High‐strength and high‐elongation bainitic steel was fabricated using laser deposition technology. The steel with a Cr content of 2.0 wt.% exhibited the optimal combination of mechanical properties, achieving a yield strength of 1287 MPa, a tensile strength of 1706 MPa, an elongation of 14.96%, and a product of strength and elongation (PSE) of 25.52 GPa%. This indicates an excellent balance between strength and ductility, with its strength and elongation significantly surpassing those of bainitic steels produced by conventional processes. With increasing Cr content, the microstructure of the laser‐deposited steel evolved from a mixture of granular bainite (GB) and lath bainite (LB) to predominantly GB, and eventually to a structure comprising LB with a small amount of martensite. Correspondingly, as the Cr content increased, the hardness and tensile strength of the steel initially decreased and then increased, while the elongation first increased and then decreased. Consequently, the PSE showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing.
Zhao et al. (Mon,) studied this question.