Additive manufacturing (AM) processes such as electron beam melting (EBM) are characterized by unprecedented design freedom. Topology optimization and design of the microstructure of metallic materials are enabled by rapid progress in this field. The latter is of highest importance as many applications demand appropriate mechanical as well as functional material properties. For instance, biodegradable implants have to meet mechanical properties of human bone and at the same time guarantee adequate cytocompatibility and degradation rate. In this field, pure iron has come into focus in recent studies due to its low toxicity. Hierarchical microstructures resulting from the EBM solidification processes and intrinsic heat treatment, respectively, allow for an adjustment of the degradation behavior and may promote enhanced fatigue strength. Herein, commercially pure iron (cp‐Fe) is processed by EBM. Microstructural analysis as well as an evaluation of the cyclic mechanical material properties are conducted. The results are compared to a hot‐rolled (HR) reference material. A contradiction observed as the EBM‐processed cp‐Fe (EBM Fe) shows lower ultimate tensile strength under monotonic loading but improved fatigue properties compared to the HR Fe. It is revealed that such a unique behavior originates from prevailing microstructural features in the EBM as‐built condition.

The Fe_43.5Mn₃₄Al₁₅Ni_7.5 (at.%) alloy exhibits outstanding pseudoelastic behaviour over a wide range of temperatures. This alloy undergoes an unusual martensitic transformation from a disordered body-centred cubic (α) parent phase to a face-centred cubic (γ′) product phase. In the present work, the orientations of the parent and product phases for quenched samples were analysed by electron backscatter diffraction. Bain, Kurdjumow–Sachs, Pitsch, Nishiyama–Wassermann and Greninger–Troiano orientation relationships between the parent and product phases were compared with experimental results. The Pitsch relationship appears to be the most suitable to describe the α→γ′ martensitic transformation. This result provides experimental support to the dislocation-based heterogeneous Bogers–Burgers type transformation mechanism. No indications of variant selection were detected in the thermally activated transformations.