Monnamme Tlotleng

Influence of laser power on microstructure of laser metal deposited 17-4 ph stainless steel

The influence of laser power on the microstructure of 17-4 PH stainless steel produced by laser metal deposition was investigated. Multiple-trackof 17-4 stainless steel powder was deposited on 316 stainless steel substrate using laser metal deposition, an additive manufacturing process. In this research, laser power was varied between 1.0 kW and 2.6 kW with scanning speed fixed at 1.2 m/s. The powder flow rate and the gas flow rate were also kept constant at values of 5 g/min and 2 l/min respectively. The microstructure was studied under optical microscope and it revealed that the microstructure was dendritic in structure with finer and lesser δ-ferriteat low laser power while the appearance of coarse and more δ-ferriteare seen at higher laser power.

Bioceramic coating of hydroxyapatite fabricated on Ti-6Al-4V with Nd-YAG laser

This paper presents on the direct laser melted hydroxyapatite coatings achieved by melting the pre-placed powder beds using Nd-YAG laser. The process development and optimized parameters are reported. The results show that by changing the laser power and the beam inclined plane it is possible that a desirable coating of HAP that is rich on the surface can be produced. The microstructures of the coatings showed balling and cracking at beam angles between 0-15° and at 27° a successful coating was achieved with laser power and scanning speed of 750W and 5mm/s respectively. The said coating was pore and crack free while it retained non-decomposed HAP crystallites on the surface (mixed). The microstructure of the transition layer concluded a moderate temperature process since the formed dendrites did not develop or form secondary arms. The Ca/P conducted on the coating using EDS concluded Ca/P ratio of 8.04 and the absence of titanium phosphates phase (TiP2). TiP2 is typically associated with the decomposition of HAP and indicate the presence of high processing temperatures. Even so, the current results indicated that the investigated process was successful in depositing HAP coating with desirable microstructures even though its bio-corrosion properties still need to be ascertained before it could be qualified as suitable for biomedical applications.