Heat treatment temperature-induced microstructure, microhardness and wear resistance of Inconel 718 produced by selective laser melting additive manufacturing

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) has been becoming more widespread and its usage area has been increasing in different industries. However, the mechanical and microstructural properties of the metal parts printed by additive manufacturing required further investigation. In this study, various heat treatment temperature were applied to Inconel 718 produced by selective laser melting (SLM) to examine the effects of heat treatment temperature on microstructure, microhardness and wear behavior of the printed specimens. Moreover, the microhardness and wear response of printed specimens were compared with the wrought Inconel 718. The results provide strong evidence that heat treatment temperature is capable of altering microstructural aspects of printed parts substantially and thus microhardness and wear resistance is induced. Comparative study also provides evidence that printed Inconel 718 can have much higher wear resistance performance than conventionally produced Inconel 718 if printed Inconel 718 can be treated by an appropriate heat treatment temperature.