Laser-Assisted Additive Manufacturing of Vanadis 4 AM Cold Work Tool Steel
Bartels D, Nahr F, Schrauder J, Düfert L, List M, Krakhmalev P (2026)
Publication Type: Conference contribution
Publication year: 2026
Journal
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
Book Volume: 143
Pages Range: 643-648
Conference Proceedings Title: Procedia CIRP
Event location: Heinrich-Lades-Halle, DEU
DOI: 10.1016/j.procir.2026.07.135
Abstract
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a promising technology for the fabricating or repair of tools. However, applicability of different AM methods is limited to materials prone to cracking. The chromium-molybdenum-vanadium Uddeholm Vanadis® 4 Extra Super Clean for Additive Manufacturing (Vanadis 4 AM) cold work tool steel investigated in the present work is one of those materials. In this study, microstructure and defects of this tool steel manufactured by laser powder-bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) without preheating and with preheating to 400 °C, and manufactured using the direct energy deposition (DED-LB/M) with Gaussian and shaped laser beams is reported. During the solidification of the PBF-LB/M steel, a cellular–dendritic structure with no coarse primary carbides was formed. Preheating to 400 °C reduced cracking, but did not fully avoid it. Steel manufactured with not shaped DED-LB/M had more characteristic for a cold work tool steel dendritic microstructure with a developed network of V- and Mo-rich carbides. Electron microscopy did not reveal interdendritic cracks or cracks at colony boundaries in the DED-LB/M specimens, though cracks in dilution zone were sometimes observed. Pilot DED-LB/M experiments using Gaussian-, Bessel-, or Ring-shaped profiles were carried out to manufacture single tracks. These results demonstrate the promising processability of Vanadis 4 AM steel for additive manufacturing by DED-LB/M for repairing or manufacturing entire components.
Authors with CRIS profile
Dominic Bartels
Lehrstuhl für Photonische Technologien (LPT)
Florian Nahr
Lehrstuhl für Photonische Technologien (LPT)
Julian Schrauder
Lehrstuhl für Photonische Technologien (LPT)
Leonie Düfert
Lehrstuhl für Photonische Technologien (LPT)
Involved external institutions
Bayerisches Laserzentrum gemeinnützige Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (BLZ)
Germany (DE)
Karlstad University / Karlstads universitet
Sweden (SE)
Germany (DE)
Karlstad University / Karlstads universitet
Sweden (SE)
How to cite
APA:
Bartels, D., Nahr, F., Schrauder, J., Düfert, L., List, M., & Krakhmalev, P. (2026). Laser-Assisted Additive Manufacturing of Vanadis 4 AM Cold Work Tool Steel. In Procedia CIRP (pp. 643-648). Heinrich-Lades-Halle, DEU: Elsevier B.V..
MLA:
Bartels, Dominic, et al. "Laser-Assisted Additive Manufacturing of Vanadis 4 AM Cold Work Tool Steel." Proceedings of the 14th CIRP Conference on Photonic Technologies, LANE 2026, Heinrich-Lades-Halle, DEU Elsevier B.V., 2026. 643-648.
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