Mechanical and Thermal Properties of the High Thermal Conductivity Steel (HTCS) Additively Manufactured via Powder-Fed Direct Energy Deposition

High thermal conductivity steel (HTCS-150) is deposited onto non-heat-treated AISI H13 (N-H13) via powder-fed direct energy deposition (DED) based on the response surface methodology (RSM) to enhance the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of N-H13, which is generally used as a hot-work tool steel. The main process parameters of the powder-fed DED are priorly optimized to minimize defects in the deposited regions and, therefore, to obtain homogeneous material properties. The deposited HTCS-150 is comprehensively evaluated through hardness, tensile, and wear tests at the different temperatures of 25, 200, 400, 600, and 800 °C. Compared to conventionally heat-treated (quenched and tempered) H13 (HT-H13), the hardness of the additively manufactured HTCS-150 slightly increases at 25 °C, whereas it does not show any significant difference above 200 °C. However, the HTCS-150 deposited on N-H13 shows a lower ultimate tensile strength and elongation than HT-H13 at all tested temperatures, and the deposition of the HTCS-150 on N-H13 enhances the ultimate tensile strength of N-H13. While the HTCS-150 does not show a significant difference in the wear rate below 400 °C compared to HT-H13, it shows a lower wear rate above 600 °C. The HTCS-150 reveals a higher thermal conductivity than the HT-H13 below 600 °C, whereas the behavior is reversed at 800 °C. The results suggest that the HTCS-150 additively manufactured via powder-fed direct energy deposition can enhance the mechanical and thermal properties of N-H13, including hardness, tensile strength, wear resistance, and thermal conductivity in a wide range of temperatures, often superior to those of HT-H13.