Rapid Prototyping von Bauteilen aus Stahl durch direktes Laser-Fluessigphasensintern

At Fraunhofer IWS in Dresden, the technology of direct generating of complex-shaped parts from high melting metals has been developed in the last years. It uses the short- time laser liquid-phase sintering of compound powders. Previous experiences have been extended on alloyed structural steel 17 CrNiMo 6, heat treating steel 42 CrMo 4 und hot working steel X38 CrMoV 5 1. The sintered parts deviated from the CAD-data no more than 0.1 mm, the surface roughness was mostly < 0.05 mm. The relative density was in the area 55 -65 per cent. In contrast to low melting materials, considerable increase of hardness and wear resistance were found. In order to increase density and strength, experiments of thermal und chemical infiltrating the porous sintered parts were done with the result that up to 99 per cent can be filled by material.