Anisotropic Mechanical Behaviours and Thin-wall Effects of Additively Manufactured Austenitic Alloys

Abstract: Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a general concept of building a three-dimensional object layer-by-layer. AM breaks through the manufacturing limitations in conventionally subtractive manufacturing, leading to a great design freedom of components with complex geometries. The potential of integrating AM into existing manufacturing process with additional functionality raises interest in various fields, such as aerospace, automotive and medical applications. To ensure robust AM applications, this PhD project has carried out investigations on the mechanical behaviours of AM components with respect to the characteristic microstructure and the geometrical effects. The investigated materials include Hastelloy X (HX, a solid-solution strengthened Ni-based superalloy) and stainless steel 316L (SS 316L, a solid-solution strengthened austenitic stainless steel) manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The high temperature tensile behaviours, short-term creep resistance and low cycle fatigue performance have been examined. The aim of this thesis is to conduct a fundamental studies that can be applied to different material grades with single phase face-centred cubic (FCC) crystallographic structure. LPBF HX shows a great potential for the burner tip repair application in gas turbines. Due to the complex geometry of the burner and the requirement of high temperature mechanical performance, the tensile properties have been systematically examined. Multiple testing variables have been applied, including the specimen geometry, the elevated temperature, the strain rate and the loading direction (LD). Combined with the prior and post microstructural analysis, the deformation and fracture mechanisms have been investigated. For the thin-walled specimens, a clear texture transition is found when it comes to the thinner specimen, and it leads to the lower yield strength as a result. In addition, as the high surface roughness of the LPBF as-built specimen can cause inaccuracy of the yield strength determination due to the overestimated loading cross section, especially for the thin-walled specimen, a calibration method based on the crystallographic texture results has been proposed. Meanwhile, anisotropic tensile behaviours are observed at all the testing conditions due to the elongated grain structure and the characteristic texture along the building direction (BD). At elevated temperatures, the grain boundary embrittlement takes place at 700 °C that leads to the ductility loss in the horizontal loading (LD ⊥ BD). Slow strain rate tensile testing (SSRT) has been performed to probe the short-term creep resistance at 700 °C, since it is a useful tool to address the strain rate dependent in elastic strain accumulation. Surprisingly, the ductility of the vertical loading (LD // BD) remains at a high level not only at 700 °C but also at SSRT condition, and the high ductility results from the evident texture evolution and crystallographic orientation dependent deformation twinning. The good ductility of the vertical loading indicates a better creep performance compared to the horizontal loading. In-situ and ex-situ neutron diffraction measurements upon loading have also been applied for a full-length investigation on the anisotropic tensile behaviours. Thin-wall effects on strain-controlled low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviours of LPBF SS 316L have been investigated by using the tubular fatigue specimens with different wall thicknesses. The comparison between the machined and as-built surface conditions have been drawn. The fully reversed LCF tests were successfully performed without the buckling problem in thin-walled structures owing to the tubular geometry. The surface roughness and the distinct microstructure at the surface region lead to the inferior fatigue strain-life, especially with the low applied strain range. The combined effects have been quantified by estimating the fatigue notch factor, Kf . The LCF tests have also been performed on the regular cylindrical specimens and compared to the wrought SS 316L. A comparable fatigue strain-life is found between the LPBF and the wrought SS 316L. Yet, the secondary hardening caused by strain-induced martensitic phase transformation is only observed in the wrought SS 316L, while continuous cyclic softening is shown in the LPBF SS 316L. In addition, as high level of residual stress (RS) is commonly found in the as-built specimen, the effect of stress relief heat treatment (600 °C /4 hours) on the LCF behaviours has been examined. A great reduction of RS is found after the heat treatment, and higher responding stresses are shown in the stress relieved specimen, which indicates a better fatigue stress-life. In summary, the deformation and fracture mechanisms of LPBF HX and SS 316L under different loading conditions have been systematically investigated. Via increasing deeper knowledge of LPBF material behaviours, the LPBF applications can be expanded to a greater extent.