STUDYING THE EFFECT OF HEAT TREATING ENVIRONMENT ON THE STRUCTURE OF X42Cr13 STEEL FABRICATED USING FILAMENT 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of heat treating environment (Ar gas or air) on the structure of X42Cr13 stainless steel printed using filament 3D printing technology. X42Cr13 steel samples after filament 3D printing were heat treated at 600 oC (for 150 minutes) in an environment of Ar gas or air. Analytical equipment including an X-ray inspection device, digital optical microscope, X-ray diffractometer, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to investigate the change in the microstructure of the filament 3D-printed X42Cr13 steel after heat treating in different environments. Results show that heat treating in the air environment more effectively removes organic binders from the filament 3D-printed sample than heat treating in Ar gas. However, heat treating in air is more susceptible to oxidation (forming Fe2O3) than treatment in Ar gas. Research shows that thermal post-treatment (heat treating) technology is essential to remove organic binders in printed objects made by the filament 3D printing technology.