Additive manufacturing is a key enabling technology in the manufacture of highly complex shapes, having very few geometric limitations compared to traditional manufacturing processes. The present paper aims at investigating mechanical properties at cryogenic temperatures for a 316L austenitic stainless steel, due to the wide possible cryogenic applications such as liquid gas confinement or superconductors. The starting powders have been processed by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and tested in the as-built conditions and after stress relieving treatments. Mechanical properties at 298, 77 and 4.2 K from tensile testing are presented together with fracture surfaces investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The results show that high tensile strength at cryogenic temperature is characteristic for all samples, with ultimate tensile strength as high as 1246 MPa at 4.2 K and 55% maximum total elongation at 77 K. This study can constitute a solid basis for investigating 316L components by LPBF for specific applications in cryogenic conditions.

The aluminium alloy with chemical conception AlMgSi prepared by PM (powder metallurgy) technology was used. The experiments such as a ring and compression test, ECAR (equal channel angular rolling) for determination of friction coefficient, stress-strain curves and material workability based on analytical methods (Freudenthal, Cockcroft-Latham and normalized Cockcroft-Latham criteria) were performed. Numerical simulations of sample processed by ECAR was carried out by a software Deform 3D with focus on the description of stress, strain fields and workability criteria (Cockcroft-Latham and normalized Cockcroft-Latham). The prediction of fracture formations in a real ECAR sample during processing conditions was also done.Keywords: compression test, powder metallurgy, fracture criteria, ECAR, Deform 3DStop aluminium o składzie chemicznym AlMgSi przygotowano metodą proszkową. Wykonano badania takie jak próba ściskania swobodnego pierścieni i walcowatych, ECAR (wyciskanie w kanale kątowym z walcowaniem) w celu wyznaczenia współczynnika tarcia, krzywych naprężenie-odkształcenie oraz podatności materiału na odkształcenie z użyciem metod analitycznych (kryterium Freudenthal, Cockcroft-Latham i znormalizowane Cockcroft-Latham). Symulacje numeryczne dla próbki poddawanej procesowi ECAR przeprowadzono przy pomocy oprogramowania Deform 3D z naciskiem na opis pól sił i naprężeń oraz kryteriów obrabialności (Cockcroft-Latham i znormalizowane Cockcroft-Latham). Przeprowadzono również symulację możliwości tworzenia się pęknięć w rzeczywistej próbce poddanej procesowi ECAR.

This review paper concerns the development of the chemical compositions and controlled processes of rolling and cooling steels to increase their mechanical properties and reduce weight and production costs. The paper analyzes the basic differences among high-strength steel (HSS), advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) and ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS) depending on differences in their final microstructural components, chemical composition, alloying elements and strengthening contributions to determine strength and mechanical properties. HSS is characterized by a final single-phase structure with reduced perlite content, while AHSS has a final structure of two-phase to multiphase. UHSS is characterized by a single-phase or multiphase structure. The yield strength of the steels have the following value intervals: HSS, 180–550 MPa; AHSS, 260–900 MPa; UHSS, 600–960 MPa. In addition to strength properties, the ductility of these steel grades is also an important parameter. AHSS steel has the best ductility, followed by HSS and UHSS. Within the HSS steel group, high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel represents a special subgroup characterized by the use of microalloying elements for special strength and plastic properties. An important parameter determining the strength properties of these steels is the grain-size diameter of the final structure, which depends on the processing conditions of the previous austenitic structure. The influence of reheating temperatures (TReh) and the holding time at the reheating temperature (tReh) of C–Mn–Nb–V HSLA steel was investigated in detail. Mathematical equations describing changes in the diameter of austenite grain size (dγ), depending on reheating temperature and holding time, were derived by the authors. The coordinates of the point where normal grain growth turned abnormal was determined. These coordinates for testing steel are the reheating conditions TReh = 1060 °C, tReh = 1800 s at the diameter of austenite grain size dγ = 100 μm.

In powder metallurgy (PM), severe plastic deformation (SPD) is a well-known technological solution to achieve interesting properties. However, the occurrence of pores in the final product may limit these properties. Also, for a given type of microstructure, the stereometric parameters of the pore structures, such as shape (represented by Aspect and Dcircle) and distribution (fshape, and fcircle), decisively affect the final properties. The influence of different processing routes (pressing, sintering and equal channel angular pressing (ECAP)) on pore structures in an aluminum PM alloy is discussed. The nature of porosity, porosity evolution and its behavior is explored. The correlation between pore size and morphology is also considered. The final pore structure parameters (Aspect, Dcircle, fshape, and fcircle) of studied aluminum alloys produced by different processing routes depends on the different formation routes.

The main aim of this paper is to show how back pressure equal channel angular pressing (ECAP-BP) influences the porosity distribution in powder metallurgy (PM) aluminium alloys. When back pressure is applied, the accumulation of damage in deformed samples decreases due to the fact that the shear strain takes place under predominantly compressive stresses. Consequently, ECAP-BP influences the porosity distribution in terms of the severe shear deformation involved. According to the obtained results, interesting applications for this new progressive method in physical and metallurgical research fields are shown.