Small Scale Mechanical Testing for Additively Manufactured (Direct Metal Laser Sintered) Monolithic and Hybrid Test Samples

Additive manufacturing using the laser based, powder bed fusion process (Direct metal laser sintering – DMLS) has been studied for room temperature mechanical (tensile) properties using small scale test specimens. Five different DMLS alloys, IN718, CoCrMo, Maraging steel, SS316L and Ti6Al4V along with two hybrid alloys (DMLS CoCrMo on Cast FSX414 and DMLS SS316L on forged X20Cr13 steel) have been tested using micro tensile specimens (0.5 mm thickness, 2 mm gauge width and 6 mm gauge length). The specimens were machined out of DMLS blocks and tested in the as printed and heat treated condition. This study establishes the premise for small scale testing as a viable technique in laser additive manufacturing (DMLS), especially for its applicability in building hybrid parts on to conventionally manufactured parts as well as to serve as a quality control option during scaling up of AM parts, thereby contributing to productivity of production parts.