Development of Silicon Carbide Dispersed Steel Using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Process

Abstract

High-strength steel has several industrial applications such as automobile, tool and die, construction industries etc. However, it is challenging to achieve it. Various strengthening mechanisms, such as dispersion strengthening, alloying, grain boundary strengthening etc., plays a vital role in deciding the properties of the steel. At the industrial level, high-strength steel is produced by adding alloying elements such as Tungsten, Chromium, and Molybdenum in the steel matrix, increasing the high-strength steel cost. On the other hand, Wire Arc Additive manufacturing (WAAM) can produce dispersion strengthening in steel to mimic the properties of a high-strength steel matrix. The WAAM is a relatively low-cost additive manufacturing technology which uses a welding process to build up layers of material to fabricate the finished product. We have dispersed hard silicon carbide (SiC) particles in the mild steel matrix using the WAAM process in this work. SiC-dispersed steel's hardness is 28% higher than mild steel samples prepared by the WAAM process. The SEM micrograph shows the presence of dispersion of SiC in the steel matrix, which increases hardness compared to mild steel samples.