Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of 300M steel produced by low and high power selective laser melting

300 M ultra-high strength steel has been widely used in critical structural components for aviation and aerospace vehicles,owing to its high strength,excellent transverse plasticity,fracture toughness and fatigue resistance.Herein,low and high power selective laser melting(SLM)of 300 M steel and their microstructural evolution and mechanical properties have been reported.The results show that the optimal energy density range with the highest relative density for SLMed 300 M steel is between 60 and160 J/mm^3.Furthermore,molten pools for deposition exhibit a conduction mode with semi-elliptical shape at a lower laser power of 300~600 W but a keyhole mode with"U"shape at a higher laser power of 800~1900 W.The heterogeneous microstructure of as-built samples is cha racterized by a skin-core structure which is that tempered troostite with the coarse non-equiaxed grains in the molten pool is wrapped by tempered sorbite with the fine equiaxed grains in the heat-affected zone.The skin-core structure of SLMed 300 M steel has the characteristics of hard inside and soft outside.The average microhardness of samples varies from 385 to 341 HV when laser power increases from 300 to 1900 W.Interestingly,ultimate tensile strength(1156-1193 MPa)and yield tensile strength(1085-1145 MPa)of dense samples fabricated at diffe rent laser powers vary marginally.But,the elongation(6.8-9.1%)of SLMed 300 M steel is greatly affected by the laser power.