Project explores AM of highly-stressed components in hardened martensitic stainless steel

The Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools (IFW), part of Hannover University’s engineering centre (PZH) in Garbsen, Germany, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Additive Manufacturing Technologies (IAPT), part of the Fraunhofer- Gesellschaft research organisation, Hamburg, have collaborated on a new Additive Manufacturing research project, AddSpin. For AddSpin, the two institutes investigated to what extent Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing is suitable for tightly toleranced, highly stressed machine components, with the goal of reducing machining and nonproductive times of machine tools by reducing mass and, thus, the moment of inertia.