Abstract
Direct energy deposition (DED) technique uses a laser heat source to deposit a metal layer on a substrate. Many researchers have used the DED technique to study the hardfacing of molds and dies. The aim of this study is to obtain high surface hardness and a sound bonding between the AISI M4 deposits and a substrate utilizing a mixed powder that contains M4 and AISI P21 powders. To prevent interfacial cracks between the M4 deposits and the substrate, the mixed powder is pre-deposited onto a JIS S45C substrate, before the deposition of M4 powders. Interfacial defects occurring between the deposits and substrate and changes in the microhardness of the intermediate layer were examined. Observations of the cross-sections of deposited specimens revealed that the interfacial cracks appeared in samples with one and two mixed layers regardless of the mixture ratio. However, the crack was removed by increasing the mixture ratio and the number of intermediate layers. Meanwhile, the microhardness in the mixed layer was found to decrease with increasing ratio of P21 powder in the mixture and that in the upper region of the deposited layers was approximately 800 HV, which was attributed to various alloying elements in the M4 powder.
