This study analyses and examines the hybrid printing process at Uddeholms AB in Hagfors.The objective of this study is to present recommended parameters to achieve optimal printingresults in a newly developed steel as well as a steel powder material designed for additivemanufacturing.The study showed that the best results occurred when printing on metal in a delivery state,with a thin layer thickness and double exposure. This resulted in full density in the fusion zoneand a gradient hardness change compared to a linear hardness change which was achievedwhen using single exposure. This leads to a lower chance of crack initiation due to internalstresses in the material.Additionally, a fixture system is presented that can fixate a variety of geometriessimultaneously. The use of this fixture system leads to a reduction in lead time by up toapproximately 85% comparing to the fixture solution in use today. Another benefit is theincreased economic sustainability since the operator does not need bespoke fixturing solutionsfor specific jobs.To achieve optimal properties of the printed detail, the parameters presented in this studyshould be used in conjunction with the fixture system.

This thesis focuses on the topic of PBF-LB applied to titanium alloys. Of allalloys, an α + β is chosen, named Ti-6Al-4V. The selection of this particular alloy is driven by its current widespread use in many industrial applications where high strength coupled with low density are both desirable properties. For the last 50 years, parts made with this alloy have been cast or forged and then machined to achieve the final geometry. There is now an opportunity totransform this process chain by additive manufacturing, hence reducing material waste and achieving near net shape from powder feedstock. The process is summarised as follows: a laser selectively melts areas on a build plate where powder is pre-placed. Then a successive powder layer is spread and the process is repeated until completion. Upon removal of the part from the build plate, loose powder in the chamber is collected and recycled whenever possible. The design freedom provided by powder bed fusion methods enables production of intricate geometries and added functionality, despite the need for post-build consolidation and/or microstructural adjustments. Today’s fine and narrow powder cuts (e.g., 15-50μm) are designed to be coupled with low layer thicknesses (i.e., 30μm) to achieve smooth surfaces and high resolutions of small features e.g., internal cooling channels. However, costs associated with production of fine and narrow powder cuts are substantial as refinement of batches requires multiple sieving steps. In addition, resulting building times are considerably long (i.e., days), therefore a beneficial alternative could be that of exploring higher layer thicknesses together with wider and coarser powder cuts. The main idea of this work is to investigate the effects of employing a powder with a wider size distribution 15-90μm. The aim is to reduce the sievingrequired and consequently decrease the costs of developing and building parts made by PBF-LB. An extensive microstructural investigation is conducted on single tracks and cubes built with 27 different process parameter combinations, which also attempts to establish correlations between characteristics of tracks and responses measured in cubes. As a second step, the amount of residual porosity of asbuilt cubes is chosen as the discriminant for further mechanical testing of sub and super-β transus high-pressure heat treated material. / Den här avhandlingen fokuserar på additiv tillverkning av titanlegeringar med laser pulverbädd metoden. Den legering som främst är i fokus är Ti-6Al-4Vsom är en α+β legering. Anledningen till valet av denna titanlegering är att det är den vanligast förekommande titanlegeringen och att den används i ett antal olika industriella tillämpningar där hög styrka i kombination med låg vikt är önskvärda egenskaper. Under de senaste 50 åren har komponenter utav denna legering tillverkats med gjutning eller smide, följt av bearbetning till slutlig geometri. Med hjälp av additiv tillverkning finns nu en möjlighet att förändra tillverkningskedjan i vilket minskat materialspill och en mer nära-slutgeometri kan erhållas direkt genom användning av metallpulver som utgångsmaterial. Processen kan summeras enligt följande: en laser smälter ett förbestämt område på en byggplatta som täckts mer pulver. Därefter adderas ytterligare ett lager med metallpulver ovanpå, på vilket samma process sker igen, och igen osv, tills hela detaljen är färdigtillverkad. När detaljen ska tas loss ifrån byggplattan samlas det kvarvarande icke-smälta pulvret upp och återanvänds i så stor utsträckning som möjligt. Frihetsgraderna vid design i processen möjliggör tillverkning av komplexa geometrier och adderade funktionaliteter, även fast efterbehandling och/eller justeringar av mikrostrukturen kan behövas. Dagens smala pulverstorleksfördelning (tex 15-50μm) är avsedd att ge tunna lagertjocklekar (tex 30μm) för att åstadkomma en fin yta och hög upplösning av små geometrier, såsom exempelvis interna kylkanaler. Men kostnaderna som det innebär att framställa och sortera ut fina och smala kornstorleksfördelningarär avsevärd eftersom det innebär flera steg med silning. Vidare leder de tunnalagertjocklekarna till långa byggtider (typiskt dagar). Ett alternativ, som därför vore fördelaktigt, är att undersöka möjligheten med att bygga tjockare lager med en bredare och större pulverstorleksfördelning. Huvudfokuset i detta arbete fokuserar på att undersöka effekterna av att använda en bredare pulverpartikelstorleksfördelning 15-90μm, med syfte at minska silningsbehovet och därmed reducera kostnaden för att utveckla och tillverka detaljer med laser pulverbädd additiv tillverkning. En omfattande mikrostrukturundersökning har gjorts på enkelsträngar och kuber byggda med 27 olika processparameter-kombinationer, vilket samtidigt försöker identifiera korrelationer mellan enkelsträngarnas karaktäristik med resultaten uppmätta hos kuberna. I ett nästa steg har material, som tillverkats med processparametrar som renderade i minst/mest porer hos kuberna, mekaniskt provats efter att det högtrycksvärmebehandlats över- respektive under β-transus. / <p>Paper A is not included due to the copyright.</p><p>Paper B and C are to be submitted.</p>

This thesis analyzes the influence of process gases on the formation and the characteristics of process byproducts that emerge during additive manufacturing of an aluminum alloy belonging to the 2000 series.  In order to address the influence, four pure gases, argon, nitrogen, helium, and carbon dioxide, were used as a shielding gas on the same parameter sets.  The interaction of the laser beam with the powder bed under each shielding condition was recorded by a camera.  The humidity, particle size distribution, and chemistry of the spatters produced after each job was analyzed.  The chemistry of small cylinders printed, was determined.  The density of the produced cubic samples was determined following the Archimedes principle, as well as through the analysis of the  cross-section.   Lastly,  the  embedded  and  polished  samples  were  etched,  and  the penetration depth of the laser was determined.  Under argon and nitrogen shielding, the process looked the same and the produced spatters show similar results.  Under helium shielding, less incandescent spatters were seen, and the particle size distribution is smaller than under argon or nitrogen. Carbon dioxide resulted in the highest number of incandescent particles and a change of the color of the rays from red to yellow.  The chemical analysis shows that a slight increase of nitrogen in the spatters and the bulk material can be seen under nitrogen shielding.  Oxygen and hydrogen content was sim- ilar under argon, nitrogen, and helium shielding.  Carbon dioxide shielding resulted in the highest oxygen content in the spatter and the bulk material. The density is highest under helium shielding, and lowest under carbon dioxide shielding.  Under argon and nitrogen shielding, the density was similar.  The study concluded that the choice of a process gas is not an arbitrary one but should be selected with care. / Denna avhandling analyserar processgasernas påverkan på bildandet och egenskaperna hos process biprodukter som uppstår vid additiv tillverkning av en aluminiumlegering som tillhör 2000-serien. För att hantera inflytandet användes fyra rena gaser, argon, kväve,  helium  och  koldioxid  som  skyddsgas  på  samma  parameteruppsättningar. Interaktionen mellan  laserstrålen och  pulverbädden under  varje skärmningsförhållande registrerades  av  en  kamera.  Fuktigheten, partikelstorleksfördelningen  och  kemin  hos stänkarna som producerades efter varje jobb analyserades. Kemien hos de små cylindrarna  som  trycktes  bestämdes. Densiteten  hos  de  producerade  kubikproven  bestämdes enligt Archimedes princip, liksom genom analys av tvärsnittet. Slutligen etsades de inbäddade och polerade proverna och laserns penetrationsdjup bestämdes. Under argon- och kväveavskärmning såg processen likadan ut och de producerade stänkarna visar liknande resultat. Under heliumskärmning sågs mindre glödande stänk och partikelstorleksfördelningen är mindre än under argon eller kväve. Koldioxid resulterade i det högsta antalet glödande partiklar och en förändring av strålarnas färg från rött till gult. Den kemiska analysen visar att en liten ökning av kväve i stänkarna och bulkmaterialet kan ses under kväveavskärmning. Syre- och väteinnehållet var liknande under argon-,  kväve-  och  heliumskärmning. Koldioxidavskärmning  resulterade  i  det  högsta syreinnehållet i stänk och bulkmaterial. Densiteten är högst under heliumskärmning och lägst under koldioxidskärmning. Under argon- och kväveavskärmning var densiteten densamma. Studien drog slutsatsen att valet av en processgas inte är godtyckligt utan bör väljas med omsorg.

Additive manufacturing can bring several advantages in tooling applications especially hot working tooling as high pressure die casting. Printing of conformal cooling channels can lead to improved cooling and faster solidification, which, in turn, can possibly result in better quality of the cast part. However, few studies on advantages of additive manufactured tools in high pressure die casting are published.The aim of this study was to investigate and quantify the effect of conformal cooling on microstructure and mechanical properties of high pressure die cast aluminum alloy. Two tools each consisting of two die inserts were produced with and without conformal channels using additive manufacturing. Both tools were used in die casting of aluminum alloy. Aluminum specimens were then characterized microstructurally in light optical microscope for secondary arm spacing measurements and subjected to tensile and hardness testing. Cooling behavior of different inserts was studied with a thermal camera and by monitoring the temperature change of cooling oil during casting. Surface roughness of die inserts was measured with profilometer before and after casting.Thermal imaging of temperature as a function of time and temperature change of oil during casting cycle indicated that conformal insert had faster cooling and lower temperature compared to conventional insert. However, thermal imaging of temperature after each shot in a certain point of time showed higher maximum and minimum temperature on conformal die surface but no significant difference in normalized temperature gradient compared to the conventional insert.The average secondary dendrite arm spacing values were fairly similar for samples from conventional and conformal inserts, while more specimens from conventional insert demonstrated coarser structure. Slower cooling in conventional insert could result in the coarser secondary dendrite arm spacing.Tensile strength and hardness testing revealed no significant difference in mechanical properties of the specimens cast in conventional and conformal die inserts. However, reduced deviations in hardness was observed for samples cast with conformal insert. This is in agreement with secondary dendrite arm spacing measurements indicating improved cooling with conformal insert.Surface roughness measurement showed small wear of the inserts. More castings are needed to observe a possible difference in wear between the conventional and conformal inserts.Small observed differences in cooling rate and secondary arm spacing did not result in evident difference in mechanical properties of the aluminum alloy but the variation in properties were reduced for samples cast with conformal cooling. Future work may include more accurate measurement of cooling behavior with a thermocouple printed into the die insert, casting of thicker specimen for porosity evaluation and fatigue testing and longer casting series to evaluate the influence of conformal cooling on tool wear.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to overtake the conventional production of pipe systems of stainless steel grade 316L intended for bioprocessing applications by utilising powder bed fusion laser beam (PBF-LB) technologies. However, challenges such as high surface roughness need to be overcome and corrosion properties improved to meet industry standards. This can be done by applying surface post-treatments to the printed parts. Therefore, the first aim of this thesis was to investigate the ability of different post-treatments of PBF-LB 316L samples, including tumbling, electropolishing, chemical milling, Hirtisation®, and DryLyte®, to reduce the surface roughness. One set of samples was left untreated, as-built set, and used as reference. The second aim was to try to correlate the surface roughness with the corrosion properties of the various post-treated samples. Analytical techniques used included needle profilometry, light optical microscopy (LOM), critical pitting temperature (CPT), cyclic potentiodynamic polarisation (CPDP) and immersion in 1M NaCl and 1M NaOH for two different durations for each solution. While some results were expected, others were surprising. Even though tumbled samples resulted in the lowest surface roughness, the results for immersion and CPDP curves tests indicated the lowest corrosion resistance compared to the other post-treatments. On the other hand, electropolishing resulted in the lowest surface roughness reduction among the post-treated samples. However, these samples had comparatively high corrosion resistance in the CPT and CPDP tests. The DryLyte® samples were tested using two DryLyte® medias where one of them resulted in the second lowest surface roughness and showed highest corrosion resistance in all three corrosion tests even though the process parameters are still to be developed. The results for samples post-treated by Hirtisation® and chemical milling were inconsistent and need further investigations. The reference as-built set showed high corrosion resistance in its untreated state, indicating post-treatments having minor impact on its performance from a corrosion perspective. / Additiv tillverkning (AM) har möjlighet att konkurrera ut konventionell produktion av rörsystem i rostfritt stål typ 316L avsett för bioprocessapplikationer genom att använda pulverbäddsinfusionslaserstråleteknik (PBF-LB). För tekniken kvarstår dock utmaningar för att uppfylla branschstandarder då tillverkningen medför material med hög ytråhet och sämre korrosionsegenskaper än traditionella metoder. Detta kan åstadkommas genom olika typer av efterbearbetning av de printade ytorna. Ett syfte med denna studie var att utvärdera hur olika typer av efterbehandling av PBF-LB 316L (trumling, elektropolering, kemisk etsning, Hirtisation® och DryLyte®) påverkar ytråheten. Som referensmaterial användes obearbetade printade ytor. Studiens andra huvudmål var att undersöka möjligheten för korrelation mellan ytråhet efter behandling och korrosionsegenskaperna. Analyser gjordes med hjälp av nålprofilometri, ljusoptisk mikroskopi (LOM), bestämning av kritisk gropfrätningstemperatur (CPT), framtagning av cykliska potentiodynamiska polarisationskurvor (CPDP) samt nedsänkning i 1M NaCl och 1M NaOH under två olika tidsperioder per lösning. Resultaten var delvis väntade och delvis överraskande. Trots att de trumlade proverna resulterade i lägst ytråhet, visade de elektrokemiska studierna (CPDP) i de olika lösningarna på att lägre korrosionsbeständighet jämfört med övriga efterbehandlingar. Å andra sidan resulterade elektropolering resulterade i den lägsta minskningen i ytråhet bland de efterbehandlade proverna. Dessa prover visade dock på en jämförelsevis hög korrosionsbeständighet i både CPT och CPDP testerna. DryLyte®-proverna studerades med två olika DryLyte®-medier, varav en av dem gav näst lägst ytråhet samt visade högst korrosionsbeständighet i samtliga korrosionstester trots att processparametrarna inte ännu är optimerade för denna nya teknik. Resultaten för prover som efterbehandlats med Hirtisation® och kemisk etsning var tvetydiga och behöver studeras vidare. De obehandlade referensproverna indikerade hög korrosionsbeständighet, vilket tyder på att efterbehandlingar hade minimal påverkan ur ett korrosionsperspektiv.

When skeletal fractures are too extensive for fixation with plates and screws, autografts are the most used technique for treating this. Within the biomedical field the interest in biodegradable implants made from additive manufacturing have increased. Magnesium alloys has also gained interest because of its favorable mechanical properties.. The objective of this project is to report on new knowledge, possibilities and limitations of powder bed fusion-laser beam (PBF-LB) printed magnesium-based alloys for biomedical applications, specifically the mechanical properties of WE43. Before the practical work was carried through, a gathering of literature from scientific papers was put together to a background with information regarding Magnesium, additive manufacturing, microscopic observation methods and mechanical testing.  The practical elements were divided into 4 different categories: printing, sample preparation for observation and testing, microscopic observation, and mechanical testing. All the collected data was observed and discussed, and lastly compiled in to a result with microscopic images, stress-strain curves and data tables. It was discovered that the mechanical properties differed between the two build orientations. The specimen most appropriate for load bearing implants was the horizontal build direction. The differences between 67° and 90° scan strategy were that the 90° scan strategy with horizontal build orientation showed the lowest Young´s modulus which is favorable, whereas the 67° scan strategy showed higher tensile strength and ductility which also is favorable. Thereby no conclusion could be drawn on whether a 67° or 90° scan strategy was preferable. The conclusion was made that a horizontal build orientation had the most optimal mechanical properties, and that more research needs to be conducted on this topic before it can be used for biomedical applications.