Comparison of Microstructure and Tribological Behavior of WC Reinforced Maraging Steel 300 Composites Prepared by Cold Spraying and Selective Laser Melting

Tungsten carbide (WC) is a well-known material used to increase the wear resistance of iron-based composite materials that exhibit a favorable wettability with iron alloy particles. In this work, two different additive manufacturing technologies, i.e., cold-spray additive-manufacturing (CSAM) and selective laser melting (SLM), were used to fabricate WC/maraging steel 300 (WC/MS300) composites. An investigation comparing the microstructure and tribological behaviors of the composites was carried out. In addition, the evolution of the reinforcement phase during these two processes was characterized by SEM and EDS methods.