Microstructure and mechanical properties of hybrid fabricated 1Cr12Ni2WMoVNb steel by laser melting deposition

Laser melting deposition was carried out to deposit a 1Cr12Ni2WMoVNb steel bar on a wrought bar of same material. Room-temperature tensile properties of the hybrid fabricated 1Cr12Ni2WMoVNb steel sample were evaluated, and microstructure, fracture surface morphology, and hardness profile were analyzed by an optical microscope (OM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and a hardness tester. Results show that the hybrid fabricated 1Cr12Ni2WMoVNb steel sample consists of laser deposited zone, wrought substrate zone, and heat affected zone (HAZ) of the wrought substrate. The laser deposited zone has coarse columnar prior austenite grains and fine well-aligned dendritic structure, while the HAZ of the wrought substrate has equiaxed prior austenite grains which are notably finer than those in the wrought substrate zone. Besides, austenitic transformation mechanism of the HAZ of the wrought substrate is different from that of the laser deposited zone during the reheating period of the laser deposition, which determines the different prior austenite grain morphologies of the two zones. Microhardness values of both the laser deposited zone and the HAZ of the wrought substrate are higher than that of the wrought substrate zone. Tensile properties of the hybrid fabricated 1Cr12Ni2WMoVNb steel sample are comparable to those of the wrought bar, and fracture occurs in the wrought substrate zone during the tensile test.