Abstract
Laser metal deposition (LMD) is one of the additive
manufacturing technologies that is used in the production of
fully dense parts layer by layer. This innovative manufacturing
process has the potential to reduce the weight, time and cost of
manufacturing components. It is able to process different
metallic powders and also produce custom alloy or functionally
graded material by consolidating different metallic powders.
The purpose of this study was to investigate and discuss the
structural integrity, mechanical property and microstructure
of 17-4 precipitation hardened stainless steel processed by laser
metal deposition. In this study, the laser scanning speed was
varied while other process parameters where kept constant.
Material characterization was done using optical microscopy
and Vickers indentation testing. The results show that, the
processed material was structurally sound and defect free. The
microstructure was predominantly martensitic and the laser
scanning speed was observed to have an influence on the
micro-hardness of the structure.