Experiments were conducted to reveal the nanostructure evolution in additively manufactured (AMed) 316L stainless steel due to severe plastic deformation (SPD). SPD-processing was carried out using the high-pressure torsion (HPT) technique. HPT was performed on four different states of 316L: the as-built material and specimens heat-treated at 400, 800 and 1100 °C after AM-processing. The motivation for the extension of this research to the annealed states is that heat treatment is a usual step after 3D printing in order to reduce the internal stresses formed during AM-processing. The nanostructure was studied by X-ray line profile analysis (XLPA), which was completed by crystallographic texture measurements. It was found that the as-built 316L sample contained a considerable density of dislocations (10¹⁵ m⁻²), which decreased to about half the original density due to the heat treatments at 800 and 1100 °C. The hardness varied accordingly during annealing. Despite this difference caused by annealing, HPT processing led to a similar evolution of the microstructure by increasing the strain for the samples with and without annealing. The saturation values of the crystallite size, dislocation density and twin fault probability were about 20 nm, 3 × 10¹⁶ m⁻² and 3%, respectively, while the maximum achievable hardness was ~6000 MPa. The initial and textures for the as-built and the annealed samples were changed to due to HPT processing.

The work is devoted to the study of the microstructure and mechanical properties of the nickel base superalloy Inconel 718 manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM).

The newly designed ingot-metallurgy nickel-based superalloy SDZhS-15 intended for disc applications at operating temperatures up to 800–850 °C was subjected to homogenization annealing and canned forging at subsolvus temperatures, followed by solid solution treatment and ageing. Mostly a fine-grained recrystallized microstructure was obtained in the forgings. It was revealed that post-forging solid solution treatment at T > (T_s-50), where T_s is the γ′ solvus temperature, led to a significant γ grain growth, which in turn led to a decrease in strength and ductility of the superalloy. The solution treatment at (T_s-60)–(T_s-50) allowed to save fine γ grains (d_γ = 10–20 μm) and to provide the formation of secondary γ′ precipitates with a size of around 0.1 μm. In the forged and heat-treated conditions, the superalloy demonstrated superior mechanical properties, particularly excellent creep resistance at 650–850 °C in the stress range of 400–1200 MPa. Microstructure examination of the creep-tested samples showed that a decrease in the creep resistance at 850 °C can be associated with enhanced diffusivity along γ grain and γ/γ′ interphase boundaries leading to formation of cracks along the boundaries. In spite of the heavy alloying, the topologically close-packed phases were not detected in the superalloy, including in the creep tested samples.

Microstructure investigations and microhardness measurements have been comparatively performed for the nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 produced by selective laser melting (SLM) and conventional technology. The superalloy produced by SLM had a finer γ grain size and a developed dislocation substructure in contrast to a conventional wrought material. High pressure torsion of the superalloy led to a refinement in the microstructure and an increase in the microhardness in both superalloys. Annealing at 600 °C for 2 hours of the deformed superalloys caused an additional increase in microhardness. The microhardness of the SLM material was slightly higher than that of the conventional superalloy.