On the fatigue behavior of a tool steel manufactured by powder bed based additive manufacturing—a comparison between electron- and laserbeam processed AISI H13

In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM) techniques have gained increased attention. The most common AM technologies to realize complex parts are powder bed-based fusion processes, especially electron beam powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-EB/M) and laser-based powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M). Focusing on industrial applications, cyclic loading scenarios and fatigue properties of components produced by such techniques came into focus of research. The present work deals with a comparison between microstructure, hardness, density and fatigue properties of a high-alloy tool steel AISI H13 (1.2344, X40CrMoV5-1) manufactured by PBF-EB/M and PBF-LB/M. The investigated specimens are characterized by a complex phase composition containing ferrite, perlite, bainite and martensite, eventually resulting in different hardness values depending on the used AM technology. Fatigue data for PBF-EB/M AISI H13 are reported for the first time in open literature. It is shown that the fatigue behavior is significantly influenced by the specimen density. Accordingly, parts with a high density are characterized by superior fatigue strength.