Understanding Hot Cracking of Steels during Rapid Solidification: An ICME Approach
Cracking is a major problem for several types of steels during additive manufacturing. Non-equilibrium kinetics of rapid solidification and solid–solid phase transformations are critical in determining the cracking susceptibility. Previous studies correlate the hot cracking susceptibility to the solidification sequence, and therefore composition, empirically. In this study, an Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) approach is used to provide a more mechanistic and quantitative understanding of the hot cracking susceptibility of a number of steels in relation to the peritectic reaction and evolution of δ-ferrite during solidification. The application of ICME and hot cracking susceptibility predictions to alloy design for additive manufacturing is discussed.