A comparative material analysis of a new additively manufactured Vibenite® steel alloy : Investigating the possibility of electron beam melting induced disparity

Vibenite® 130 is a new electron beam melting (EBM) material from VBN, which has similar composition to the standard tool steel H13. Microstructure, oxygen content, specific heat, magnetic properties, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity and density of Vibenite® 130 and H13 were compared in this study. Methods like scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) were used. The Vibenite® 130 had a higher volume of inclusions, but the inclusions were smaller in size compared to the H13. No conclusions could be drawn for specific heat. The magnetic properties of Vibenite® 130 were determined to be similar to those of H13, except for the magnetic saturation being lower for Vibenite® 130. The polished Vibenite® 130 was found to be more hydrophilic than the H13 surface. The hipped and hardened samples of Vibenite® 130 and H13 had approximately the same density, but the ”as printed”-sample of Vibenite® 130 had a slightly higher density. This study has shown that there are many similarities between Vibenite® 130 and H13 steel due to the similar compositions, however some differences were found which stem from the different manufacturing methods. Future studies focusing on other properties like thermal expansion coefficient, wear resistance and electrical conductivity might be interesting. Additionally, more research on specific heat, magnetic properties and microstructure using different methods could provide further insight.