Fatigue behavior of laser consolidated IN-625 at room and elevated temperatures

Laser consolidation (LC) is an emerging manufacturing process that produces net shape functional and metallurgically sound components by material addition based on a CAD model. Due to the rapid solidification inherent to the process, LC materials generally have excellent material properties. However, there is limited information available on the fatigue properties of LC materials. Throughout this work, the fatigue behavior of LC IN-625 was evaluated at both room temperature and 650 °C and compared with wrought and investment cast IN-625 materials. The results show that the LC IN-625 has a fatigue resistance higher than the cast material but lower than the wrought material. Tensile and fatigue test results along with the examination of microstructures and crack initiation sites are presented.