Materials Letters 216 (2018) 16–19

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Materials Letters
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mlblue

Compositionally graded magnetic-nonmagnetic bimetallic structure

using laser engineered net shaping
Bryan Heer, Amit Bandyopadhyay ⇑
W. M. Keck Biomedical Materials Research Laboratory, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2920, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Fabrication of compositionally-graded magnetic-nonmagnetic bimetallic structures was successfully

Received 3 July 2017 completed using a laser engineered net shaping (LENSTM) system. A graded magnetic functionality was
Received in revised form 13 December 2017 implemented by directly transitioning from non-magnetic austenitic stainless steel 316 (SS316) to mag-
Accepted 25 December 2017
netic ferritic stainless steel 430 (SS430) in a single structure. LENSTM additive manufacturing utilizes a
Available online 26 December 2017
high-powered laser to continuously melt and bond metallic powder in successive layers to create the
3D structure. Microstructures revealed a preferred grain growth direction at the interfaces of the depos-
Keywords:
ited layers. Micro-hardness values across the part’s cross-section exhibited a smooth transition from the
Functionally graded materials
Additive manufacturing
highest value of 266 ± 4 HV in the SS430 region to the lowest value at the SS316 substrate of 174 ± 3 HV.
LENSTM Magnetic functionality was observed on the SS430 side of the bimetallic structure, showing how LENSTM
Magnetic/nonmagnetic can additively combine materials of varying compositions for location-specific functionality.
SS430 Ó 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
SS316

1. Introduction 2. Materials and methods

Processing compositionally-graded materials (CGM) using addi-
tive manufacturing techniques is becoming attractive as size,
shape and functionality can be varied through design. As shown
in previous works, a stainless steel 304 (SS304) part was printed
with the addition of niobium carbide that increased surface hard-
ness and reduced wear rates by over 75% [1], while a calcium-
phosphate/titanium CGM was additively fabricated to increase
wear resistance [2]. With this designed functionality, increased
mechanical properties can be influenced in user-definable loca-
tions to best improve the system’s performance. This idea of add-
ing functionality to specific regions was the foundation for
additively manufacturing magnetic SS430 to non-magnetic SS316
structures. Magnetic functionality has been implemented from
environmental sustainability efforts by contaminant adsorption
[3] to NASA’s ion propulsion engine ‘‘Deep Space 1” for space travel
[4]. Additive manufacturing of some single magnetic materials has
already been reported [5–7] for increased part functionality. By
creating a unique magnetic CGM with two different stainless steel
alloys in one processing operation through LENSTM, the functional
capability of direct energy deposition techniques for multiple
material systems can be demonstrated while creating a useful, sin-
gle component without using any traditional joining process
limitations.
A 3 mm SS316 plate was used as a substrate for sample fabrica-
tion in the LENSTM (LENSTM 750, Optomec Inc. Albuquerque, NM).
SS316 powder (Höganäs Belgium SA, Belgium, particle size: 45–1
50 mm) was first deposited onto the substrate by argon carrier
gas converging the powder to the focal point of a continuous wave
Nd:YAG laser. SS430 powder (Sandvik Osprey Ltd., Wales, particle
size: 45–150 mm) was then directly deposited on top of the SS316
deposit to create the final structure. Various parameters were tried
before structurally-sound parts could be successfully made. Final
parameters used a 46 cm/min deposition for hatch and contour
paths at a 34A current for the Nd:YAG laser. Oxygen levels ranged
from 30 to 170 ppm during the builds, and all samples directly
transitioned from one material to the next in a continuous process.
Samples were cut along the cross section to observe microstruc-
tural variations and test hardness values. Once cut, samples were
hot-mounted and placed through standard metallographic wet-
grinding preparation techniques from 220 to 1000 grit sandpaper.
Samples were then polished from 1 mm to 0.05 mm alumina-DI
water polishing suspension until a mirror finish was obtained.
Finally, samples were etched with Carpenter 300 series stainless
steel etchant to expose microstructures.
3. Results and discussions

⇑ Corresponding author. After several rounds of process optimization, the austenitic-

E-mail address: amitband@wsu.edu (A. Bandyopadhyay). ferritic stainless steel parts were built with minimum porosity

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2017.12.129
0167-577X/Ó 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 B. Heer, A. Bandyopadhyay / Materials Letters 216 (2018) 16–19 17

and strong interfacial bonding. Final functional pieces can be seen
throughout Fig. 1, where the bottom of the structure is SS316 and
an obvious direct transition to the SS430 can be observed, particu-
larly on the CNC-machined surface. Taller parts were CNC-
machined to reduce the inherent surface roughness of LENSTM pro-
cessing and provide a macroscopic viewpoint of porosity and inter-
facial bonding, as seen in Fig. 1b–d. The enhanced surface finish
revealed a strong, coherent bimetallic structure across the entire
component with no observable cracking or defects. Magnetic func-
tionality is also presented, as shown in Fig. 1d where magnetic par-
ticles were sprinkled around the tube lying down and particle
accumulation only occurred on the magnetic SS430 side along
the magnetic field lines.
To test the hardness of the structure, a Micro Vickers Hardness
Tester (Phase 2 Plus, New Jersey, USA) was used. Hardness indents
started at the top of the cross section in the SS430 region, indicated
by the 0 mm depth in Fig. 2. A 100 g load was applied for 15 s.
Indents were taken across every 1 mm gap in the cross section
and effectively displayed how the property transitioned from
SS430 deposit to SS316 deposit to the SS316 substrate. Hardness
values began at a maximum of 266 ± 4 HV at the 0 mm depth
and steadily declined down the cross section. There were slight
shifts in hardness across both interfaces, which is natural even
for the shift from the SS316 deposit to the SS316 substrate. The
rapid solidification processes of LENSTM causes the material to have
a refined grain structure in a preferred growth direction toward the

Fig. 1. a) As-deposited structure, b) a final CNC machined sample with substrate, and c) a final CNC machined sample used to d) demonstrate magnetic functionality.

Fig. 2. Hardness vs. cross-sectional depth profile showing a smooth hardness transition across deposited regions to the substrate.
18 B. Heer, A. Bandyopadhyay / Materials Letters 216 (2018) 16–19
Fig. 3. a) Schematic of the final bimetallic structure used for optical microscopy, corresponding to b) the SS430-SS316 deposit interface and c) the SS316 deposit-SS316
substrate interface.
heat source, and this rapid cooling process has previously shown to
increase hardness when compared to the same material conven-
tionally manufactured [8,9].
A schematic of the built structure and optical images of
microstructures can be seen in Fig. 3a–c, respectfully. At the
SS430-SS316 interface, micro porosities could be observed. How-
ever, these porosities were aligned in a way that was characteristic
to the entire cross-section, indicating build path inconsistencies.
Grains just above the interface in the SS430 section exhibited
columnar grains perpendicular to the interface line, which is sim-
ilar to previous reports that used LENSTM processing [10]. This pref-
erential grain growth direction occurred from the temperature
gradient caused by the laser heating. Smaller grains were observed
along the substrate-deposit interface on the deposit side as seen in
Fig. 3c, which was due to the rapid melting and solidification pro-
cess and was attributed towards the higher hardness values. Again,
grain growth appeared to follow a preferred direction toward the
changing heat source. Interface particle accumulation was also
observed, however coherent interfaces and CNC machining showed
that LENSTM processing was able to build a structurally sound part.
In contrast to conventional manufacturing methods, additive
manufacturing of a bimetallic CGM can be directly built from a
CAD file in a fraction of the time. Parts do not only have to consist
of one region of material, as multiple layers of SS430 and SS316
could be achieved to create multiple magnetic areas across a single
piece. This user-definability is unique to the multi-compositional
additive manufacturing process and can open up a wide range of
next-generation products. On a global scale, this process could be
used to create intricate components without conventional manu-
facturing limitations such as long lead times, multiple steps to
make each material, and large material waste. LENSTM based addi-
tive manufacturing was used to not only shape the parts but to
introduce a 4th dimension of location-specific functionality while
implementing the advantages of additive manufacturing, which
is perhaps the most significant novelty of our work.
4. Conclusions
A bimetallic CGM was successfully constructed using a LENSTM
system. Multiple trials were made with changing material choice
and processing parameters before a final cohesive structure was
produced. The final structure transitioned from a SS316 substrate
to LENSTM deposited SS316 to LENSTM deposited SS430. CNC machin-
ing, microstructures, and hardness tests revealed coherency
between the materials. Hardness profiles showed a steady transi-
tion from the top of the structure through to the substrate, and
optical microscopy revealed grain size reduction and columnar
grains oriented toward the heat source. Magnetic functionality
was observed when exposed to magnetic particles, showing only
accumulation at the magnetic SS430 side. It was determined
through this research that selective magnetic functionality could
be created with sound mechanical properties and minimal porosity
in one part through additive manufacturing without the need for
conventional joining steps.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Patrick Olcott, Bonny Onuike and
Kevin Stenberg for their experimental help. Also, authors would
like to acknowledge financial support from the Joint Center for
Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI, Seattle, WA) and the
National Science Foundation under the grant number NSF-CMMI
1538851 (PI - Bandyopadhyay).
 B. Heer, A. Bandyopadhyay / Materials Letters 216 (2018) 16–19
Conflict of interest
None.
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