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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Structural Materials
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2024.1470651
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Advances of Metal Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace View all 4 articles

Factorial-experimental investigation of LPBF regimes for VZh159 nickel superalloy grain structure and structural strength optimization

Provisionally accepted
Rustam Kyarimov Rustam Kyarimov 1*Eugene Statnik Eugene Statnik 1,2Iuliia Sadykova Iuliia Sadykova 1Alexander Frantsuzov Alexander Frantsuzov 1Alexey Salimon Alexey Salimon 1,2Alexander Korsunsky Alexander Korsunsky 1,2,3
  • 1 Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia
  • 2 Moscow Aviation Institute, Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Russia
  • 3 Trinity College, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigates the optimization of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) process parameters to enhance the mechanical properties of the Russian Ni superalloy VZh159 (a close analogue of IN718) material that commonly used in critical aerospace applications and the corresponding studies of the grain structure within and near the melt pool formed by a single laser track. Through a factorial experimental approach, the influence of laser power and scanning speed on tensile strength, yield strength, and ductility was determined. Metallurgically sound samples (based on hydrostatic weighing data and microscopy, with practically no pores were detected) were obtained with 9 combinations of power and scanning speed, showing significant variation in the tensile strength (in the 1040 1220 MPa range) and yield strength (in the 560 1100 MPa range), which correlated with the cross-sectional area of the single track (for example, the depth of the melt pool varied in the range 410-530 µm), while the average grain size (deduced from Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) images) remained statistically unchanged. Key findings indicate that the optimal LPBF parameters are a laser power of 250 W, a scanning speed of 600 mm/s, and a hatch distance of 0.12 mm, which together yield the best combination of high tensile strength and ductility. This study provides new insights into the effects of LPBF parameters on microstructure, particularly the formation of the γ' strengthening phase and its correlation with mechanical performance. The research addresses a critical gap in understanding the relationship between LPBF processing conditions and the resultant microstructural and mechanical properties, offering potential improvements in manufacturing efficiency and material performance.

    Keywords: Additive manufacturing, Laser powder bed fusion, Melt pool, Electron microscopy, experimental design, rational experimental-computational correlation of data

    Received: 25 Jul 2024; Accepted: 03 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kyarimov, Statnik, Sadykova, Frantsuzov, Salimon and Korsunsky. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rustam Kyarimov, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.