Innovative Powder Pre-Treatment Strategies for Enhancing Maraging Steel Performance

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Metallurgy

Background:

• Maraging steel offers high strength and toughness, crucial for aerospace, tooling, and automotive sectors.
• Powder metallurgy provides advanced processing routes for high-performance materials like maraging steel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of novel thermal powder pre-treatment on the mechanical properties of maraging steel.
• To explore the creation of a self-composite maraging steel by mixing pre-treated powders with varying properties.

Main Methods:

• Solid solution pre-treatment of maraging steel powder.
• Age hardening pre-treatment of maraging steel powder.
• Fabrication of a self-composite material by blending pre-treated powders.

Main Results:

• Solid solution pre-treatment increased strength from 972 MPa to 1000 MPa.
• Pre-aged powder achieved the highest strength (1316 MPa) with the lowest ductility (2.6%).
• The self-composite material exhibited intermediate strength (1174 MPa) and ductility (3.1%).

Conclusions:

• Thermal powder pre-treatment is effective in modifying maraging steel's mechanical properties.
• Mixing pre-treated powders allows for tailored mechanical characteristics, creating advanced materials.
• Despite challenges like porosity and oxidation, this method holds significant potential for engineering applications.