Abstract
Mold repair is a viable strategy for saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions. Papers in the literature show that repairing a limited damaged area of the mold instead of producing a new one is becoming increasingly attractive, especially considering the latest European and international regulations introduced with the green deal. In this paper, the authors are pleased to present some preliminary results related to the repair of AISI H13 tool steel molds by Laser-Directed Energy Deposition. Steel blocks (20 x 55 x 100 mm3), previously tempered at 435±10 HV, were machined to reproduce the material removal of the damaged part of the mold. Subsequently, the region was repaired by L-DED using commercial H13 powder. The process parameters were optimized to obtain a defect-free welded area. Since the microstructure of the deposited tool steel consists of hard (730±10 HV) and brittle (7 J Charpy impact toughness) martensite, a series of post-process heat treatments were performed at different temperatures to restore a hardness compatible with that of the base steel. However, this goal was only partially achieved due to the different tempering behavior of L-DED-deposited and bulk H13 steel. In particular, the tempering temperature had to be limited to avoid softening of the base steel. In the best case, double tempering at 620 °C resulted in a toughness recovery of up to 42 J. Thermal fatigue tests showed better resistance to crack propagation after tempering, as evidenced by the shallower penetration depth compared to the as-built material.
