Feasibility study on the Laser Aided Additive Manufacturing of die inserts for liquid forging

This paper reports the Laser Aided Additive Manufacturing of nickel-base alloy Nimonic 80A for the purpose of direct building of die inserts for liquid forging. Low porosity level of 0.01-0.04% with reasonable deposition rate was achieved. The micro-hardness showed very good homogeneity. Directionally solidified cellular micro-structure with an average size of 5Όm was observed. Very fine MC-type carbides were detected at the grain boundaries, which function as the strengthening phase of the alloy. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.