Carbide Steel 3D Printing

A method for producing carbide steels by means of a selective laser melting of a mixture of tungsten carbide and steel powders is proposed. Composite samples of austenitic 12Kh18N10T grade steel with tungsten carbide particles have been obtained and tested. The WC powder was preliminarily clad with nickel using a gas transport method. It has been determined that the optimal amount of WC/10Ni core-shell powder in the composition for additive manufacturing ranges from 15 to 20 wt %. The structure and properties of the new materials have been studied. It has been shown that tungsten carbide is partially dissolved in the metal in the course of the printing process with alloying the steel. The carbide particles acquire a rounded shape, which can lead to a dispersion strengthening of the alloy. The yield strength and ultimate strength exhibit an increase to 600 and 720 MPa, respectively. The presence of a solid carbide phase provides a three-fold increase in the hardness and wear resistance of the material.