The development of new, more refractory heat-resistant materials for gas-turbine engines is one of most important problems of modern materials science. This is associated with the fact that nickel...

The mechanical properties and the impact toughness of austenitic 316L steel produced by selective laser melting at a laser power of 175–190 W have been studied. It is shown that the selective laser melting method makes it possible to significantly increase the strength properties of the steel with some decrease in the ductility and the impact toughness as compared to those of the steel produced by a traditional technology. The laser power influences insignificantly. The methods of making notches and its orientation is found to influence the impact toughness.

Synthesis of the Nb-Si in-situ composite was attempted by mechanical alloying of element powders in vario-planetary ball mill. The particles size distribution was measured by laser diffraction, microstructures were examined with scanning electronic microscope, and the phase constituent were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The amorphization of the Si during mechanical alloying, large amount of deformation of Nb crystal structure, and after all – the formation of supersaturated solid solution of Nb was observed. To stabilize microstructure and phase composition, a spark plasma sintering was attempted. After SPS microstructure consist of three main phases – Nb_ss, Nb₅Si₃ and Nb₃Si.

This study investigates the influence of different sinter-HIP temperatures and binder saturation levels on the microstructure and properties of WC–12Co cemented carbide, produced using binder jetting. The sinter-HIP process was performed at 1400 °C, 1460 °C, and 1500 °C and binder saturation levels of 60% and 75% were selected during printing. The binder saturation proved to affect the repeatability of the manufacturing process and the sturdiness of the green models. The increase of the sintering temperature from 1400 °C to 1460 °C is correlated with an increase in the density. Nonetheless, a further raise in temperature to 1500 °C leads to significant grain coarsening without clear advantages in terms of porosity reduction. Both the transverse rupture strength and Vickers hardness increase when the sinter-HIP temperature rises from 1400 °C to 1460 °C, where the typical results for traditionally manufactured WC–12Co are met, with a comparable grain size. The transverse rupture strength and Vickers hardness then decrease for samples treated at 1500 °C. Finally, potential issues in the manufacturing process are identified and correlated with the defects in the final components.