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Maraging steels are known for their exceptional strength but suffer from limited work hardening and ductility. Here, we report an intermittent printing approach to tailor the microstructure and mechanical properties of maraging 250 steel via engineering of the thermal history during plasma arc additive manufacturing (PAAM). Through introducing a dwell time between adjacent layers, the maraging 250 steel is cooled below the martensite start temperature, triggering a thermally driven, in-situ martensitic transformation during the printing process. Re-heating or thermal cycling during subsequent layer deposition impedes complete martensitic transformation, enabling coexistence of martensite and retained austenite phases with elemental segregation. The enrichment of Ni in the austenite phase promotes stabilization of the retained austenite upon cooling down to room temperature. The retained austenite is yet metastable during deformation, leading to stress-induced martensitic transformation under loading. Specifically, a 3 min interlayer dwell time produces a maraging 250 steel with approximately 8% retained austenite, resulting in improved work hardening via martensitic transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) during deformation. Meanwhile, the higher cooling rate induced by the dwell time results in substantially refined grain structures with an increased dislocation density, leading to a simultaneously improved yield strength. Notably, the yield strength increases from 836 MPa (0 min dwell) to 990 MPa (3 min dwell), and the uniform elongation increases from 3.2% (0 min dwell) to 6.5% (3 min dwell). This intermittent deposition strategy demonstrates the potential to tune the microstructure and mechanical properties of maraging steels through engineering the thermal history during additive manufacturing.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available March 1, 2026
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