The influence of hatch spacing on the metallurgical characteristics of 17-4 PH stainless steel processed by DED

Abstract The quality and performance of additively manufactured part is linked to the process parameters such as laser power, scanning speed, powder feed rate, and layer thickness. However, hatch spacing is one of the process parameters that affect the quality and performance of the part, but its effect has not been fully investigated. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the effect of hatch spacing on the metallurgical characteristics, including microstructural evolution, microhardness, and corrosion behaviour of 17 − 4 PH stainless produced through DED. This study deduced that varying the % overlap had an impact on the proportion of delta ferrite and the grain size. Furthermore, increasing the % overlap was found to cause a reduction in hardness. Meanwhile, it was found that traditionally manufactured 17 − 4 PH is less susceptible to corrosion than additively manufactured 17 − 4 PH.