Hydrogen-based ore-to-part manufacturing of near-net shaped stainless steel

Hydrogen-based ore-to-part manufacturing of near-net shaped stainless steel | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Hydrogen-based ore-to-part manufacturing of near-net shaped stainless steel Mingzhang Yang, Rangasayee Kannan, Mohsen K. Keshavarz, Mihaela Vlasea This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7521801/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Decarbonizing iron and steelmaking, combined with global disruptions to raw material supply chains, necessitates novel approaches to iron and steel production. In this work, we demonstrate a direct ore-to-part manufacturing route using a mixture of ore-derived oxide powders of Fe 2 O 3 , Cr 2 O 3 , NiO, and MoO 3 as feedstock for additive manufacturing, combined with sintering under H 2 to produce a near-net shaped austenitic stainless-steel. Complete reduction of all constituent oxides, including MoO 3 and Cr 2 O 3 , is achieved in-situ at 1300°C, resulting in dense, crack-free bulk alloy. The fabricated part retains geometric fidelity while undergoing substantial volumetric shrinkage inherent to redox and sintering. Thermodynamic calculations elucidate the co-reduction mechanisms and alloying pathways that enable complete metallization. This work is the first demonstration of net-shaping metal parts directly from ore derived oxides, and this ore-to-part approach can minimize the emissions and lead time for manufacturing associated with downstream processing such as rolling, forging, and machining. Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Materials science H2-based redox ore-derived oxide austenitic stainless steel in-situ alloying thermodynamics phase transformation net-shape manufacturing Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterials.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 06 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 28 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 15 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 06 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 02 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7521801","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":518887172,"identity":"65ff8232-a6fa-4c8d-9b28-401d4636eba1","order_by":0,"name":"Mingzhang Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Waterloo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mingzhang","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":518887173,"identity":"5bf05183-d4cc-4746-9884-3e60a5b19e00","order_by":1,"name":"Rangasayee Kannan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rangasayee","middleName":"","lastName":"Kannan","suffix":""},{"id":518887176,"identity":"5577038c-356d-4765-a3a5-9c802c2018c8","order_by":2,"name":"Mohsen K. 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Manufacturing","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"NPJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"H2-based redox, ore-derived oxide, austenitic stainless steel, in-situ alloying, thermodynamics, phase transformation, net-shape manufacturing","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7521801/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7521801/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDecarbonizing iron and steelmaking, combined with global disruptions to raw material supply chains, necessitates novel approaches to iron and steel production. In this work, we demonstrate a direct ore-to-part manufacturing route using a mixture of ore-derived oxide powders of Fe\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e, Cr\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e, NiO, and MoO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e as feedstock for additive manufacturing, combined with sintering under H\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e to produce a near-net shaped austenitic stainless-steel. Complete reduction of all constituent oxides, including MoO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e and Cr\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e, is achieved in-situ at 1300\u0026deg;C, resulting in dense, crack-free bulk alloy. The fabricated part retains geometric fidelity while undergoing substantial volumetric shrinkage inherent to redox and sintering. Thermodynamic calculations elucidate the co-reduction mechanisms and alloying pathways that enable complete metallization. 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