Characterization of High Alloy Steel Produced Via Electron Beam Melting

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is a direct-to-metal freeform fabrication technique in which a 4 kW electron beam is used to melt metal powder in a layer-wise fashion. As this process is relatively new, there have not yet been any independently published studies of the high alloy steel microstructural properties. This paper describes the EBM process and presents results of microstructural analyses on H13 tool steel processed via EBM.