A Road Map for the Advanced Manufacturing of Ferritic-Martensitic Steels

Abstract

Advanced manufacturing (AM) is a disruptive manufacturing process often referred to as “the next industrial revolution” because of its ability to fabricate components with complex geometries and site-specific materials and properties. While other industries, like automotive, aerospace, and fossil-fired power companies, are adopting and evaluating AM processes, the nuclear industry, including the fusion materials community, has been somewhat slow to capitalize on the seemingly beneficial aspects of AM. To address this gap, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is evaluating candidate AM techniques to fabricate nuclear-relevant materials including ferritic-martensitic (FM) steels. This paper discusses the development of a road map for AM approaches for FM steels. Specifically, the connection among alloy composition, additive processes, processing conditions, and postprocessing and the resulting microstructure using both wire-based and powder-based directed energy deposition techniques is detailed. Finally, strategies to develop specialized alloys for additive manufacturing are outlined.

Keywords:

• Additive manufacturing
• 9–12%Cr steels
• postprocessing, characterization

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Fuels Campaign for funding this research. This research was performed, in part, using instrumentation provided by the DOE, Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle Research and Development Program and the Nuclear Scientific User Facilities. The authors also acknowledge the support of the DOE, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences for support.