Metal powder for use in an additive method for the production of three-dimensional objects and method using such metal powder

Abstract

A metal powder for use in an additive production method of three-dimensional objects is disclosed. The powder is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source and contains iron and the following components by weight percent (wt.-%): carbon: 0.07 max. wt-%, chromium: 14.00-15.50 wt.-%, nickel: 3.5-5.0 wt.-%, and copper: 3.0-4.5 wt.-%. The powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 20 μm and 100 μm.

1 . A metal powder for use in an additive production method of three-dimensional objects wherein the powder is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein
 the powder comprises iron and the following components by weight percent (wt.-%)   carbon: 0.07 max. wt-%,   chromium: 14.00-15.50 wt.-%,   nickel: 3.5-5.0 wt.-%, and   copper 3.0-4.5 wt.-%   
     and wherein the powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 20 μm and 100 μm. 
   
   
       2 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , wherein the powder particles have an approximately spherical shape. 
   
   
       3 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , wherein the powder is produced by atomisation. 
   
   
       4 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , wherein the component elements are contained in each powder particle in a pre-alloyed manner. 
   
   
       5 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , wherein the powder is a blend of different component powders having different grain size distributions and/or chemical compositions. 
   
   
       6 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising 1.00 max. wt.-% of manganese. 
   
   
       7 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising 0.03 max. wt.-% of phosphorus. 
   
   
       8 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising 1.015 max. wt.-% of sulfur. 
   
   
       9 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising 1.00 max. wt.-% of silicon. 
   
   
       10 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising between 0.5 max. wt.-% molybdenum. 
   
   
       11 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising 0.15 and 0.45 wt.-% niobium. 
   
   
       12 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , further comprising 0.10 max. wt.-% nitrogen. 
   
   
       13 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , wherein the content of ferrite is less than 5 wt.-%. 
   
   
       14 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the powder is in the martensitic state. 
   
   
       15 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , comprising
 carbon: 0.02 (max. 0.04) wt.-%   phosphorus: 0.01 (max. 0.02) wt.-%   silicon: 0.4 (max. 0.6) wt.-%   nickel: 4.2±0.2 wt.-%   copper: 3.6±0.2 wt.-%   manganese: 0.1 (max. 0.2) wt.-%   sulfur: 0.01 (max. 0.01) wt.-%   chromium: 14.3±0.2 wt.-%   molybdenum: 0.0 (max. 0.2) wt.-%   niobium: 0.3±0.05 wt.-%   Iron: balance   Nitrogen: 0.04 (max. 0.08) wt.-%   
   
   
       16 . A method for the production of three-dimensional objects from a powder, wherein the powder is applied in an additive manner and is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein the powder used is a powder according to  claim 1 . 
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the powder is applied in a layer-wise manner and selectively solidified in each layer at locations corresponding to the cross-section of the object. 
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein a laser beam is used with a laser power between 20 W and 1 kW, preferably approximately 200 W. 
   
   
       19 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the focused laser beam spot size at the powder melting level is between 20 μm and 500 μm, preferably approximately 120 μm. 
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the laser scanning velocity is between 50 mm/s and 10000 mm/s, preferably approximately 1000 mm/s. 
   
   
       21 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the distance between adjacent scan lines is between 0.02 and 0.5 mm, preferably approximately 0.1 mm. 
   
   
       22 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the thickness of the powder layer is between 10 μm and 200 μm, preferably approximately 20 μm. 
   
   
       23 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the object is precipitation hardened after the layer-wise formation. 
   
   
       24 . The method according to  claim 16  further comprises a step of cooling during the additive production method. 
   
   
       25 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the process parameters are selected such that the object comprises less than approximately 20% of the austenitic phase. 
   
   
       26 . A product produced by the method according to  claim 16 . 
   
   
       27 . A metal powder for use in an additive production method of three-dimensional objects wherein the powder is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein
 the powder comprises iron and the following components by weight percent (wt.-%)   carbon: 0.02 to 0.04 wt.-%   phosphorus: max. 0.02 wt.-%   silicon: 0.4 to 0.6 wt.-%   nickel: 4.2±0.2 wt.-%   copper: 3.6±0.2 wt.-%   manganese: max. 0.2 wt.-%   sulfur: max. 0.01 wt.-%   chromium: 14.3±0.2 wt.-%   molybdenum: max. 0.2 wt.-%   niobium: 0.3±0.05 wt.-%   Iron: balance   Nitrogen: max. 0.08 wt.-%   
     and wherein the powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 20 μm and 100 μm. 
   
   
       28 . The metal powder according to  claim 1 , wherein the powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 30 μm and 50 μm. 
   
   
       29 . The metal powder according to  claim 27 , wherein the powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 30 μm and 50 μm. 
   
   
       30 . A method for the production of three-dimensional objects from a powder, wherein the powder is applied in an additive manner and is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein the powder used is a powder according to  claim 27 . 
   
   
       31 . A method for the production of three-dimensional objects from a powder, wherein the powder is applied in an additive manner and is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein the powder used is a powder according to  claim 28 . 
   
   
       32 . A method for the production of three-dimensional objects from a powder, wherein the powder is applied in an additive manner and is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein the powder used is a powder according to  claim 29 . 
   
   
       33 . A metal powder for use in an additive production method of three-dimensional objects wherein the powder is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein
 the powder comprises iron and the following components by weight percent (wt.-%)   carbon: 0.07 max. wt-%,   chromium: 14.00-15.50 wt.-%,   nickel: 3.5-5.0 wt.-%,   copper 3.0-4.5 wt.-%,   silicon: 1.0 max wt.-%   manganese: 1.00 max. wt.-%   molybdenum: 0.5 max. wt.-%   niobium: 0.5 max wt.-%   
     and wherein the powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 20 μm and 100 μm. 
   
   
       34 . The metal powder according to  claim 33 , wherein the powder particles have a median particle size d50 between 30 μm and 50 μm. 
   
   
       35 . A method for the production of three-dimensional objects from a powder, wherein the powder is applied in an additive manner and is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein the powder used is a powder according to  claim 33 . 
   
   
       36 . A method for the production of three-dimensional objects from a powder, wherein the powder is applied in an additive manner and is solidified by means of a laser or electron beam or another heat source, wherein the powder used is a powder according to  claim 34 . 
   
   
       37 . A product produced by the method according to  claim 30 . 
   
   
       38 . A product produced by the method according to  claim 31 . 
   
   
       39 . A product produced by the method according to  claim 32 . 
   
   
       40 . A product produced by the method according to  claim 35 . 
   
   
       41 . A product produced by the method according to  claim 36 .