Selective laser sintering of single-phase powder Cr-V tool steel

Presented is positive experience from selective laser sintering (SLS) of cylindrical steel specimens (3.0% C, 3.0% Cr, 1.0% Si, 12.0% V, Fe balance) 30 mm long and 5 mm in diameter by rapid prototyping. It was demonstrated that monolithic steel material could be successfully fabricated by this technology. Differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and x-ray diffractometry (XRD) were used to study the microstructure, phase, and chemical composition of the source material and obtained specimens. Low-melting cementite-based eutectic was found to provide the liquid phase sintering of powder tool steel. The porosity of the green sintered specimens did not exceed 5%. The mean hardness value of sintered specimens was 825 HV.