ABSTRACT
Directed energy deposition (DED) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process that utilizes a concentrated heat source, which may be a laser or electron beam, with in situ delivery of powder material for subsequent melting to accomplish layer-by-layer fabrication. It has received high attention in recent years because of its potential to provide complex prototyping and strong metallic coating for high-value component repairing. However, there is a lack of published studies with the necessary parameters to draw conclusions on precipitation hardening stainless steel such as PH15-5. This work focused on the effects of the laser parameters such as laser power, powder feed rate and scanning strategies on the mechanical properties. A relationship between the internal features of the printed parts and their mechanical properties is established where X-ray computed tomography (CT) analysis was performed to visualize and quantify the volume fraction of pores and inclusions in selected samples prior to testing.
