Tensile fracture analysis of 3D printed Inconel 718

The article deals with the fracture analysis of uniaxial tensile stressed samples made of Inconel 718 alloy by DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering) technology. The samples were heat treated according to AMS 5664 procedure. The material sheet of the EOS Nickel Alloy IN718 provides the tensile properties of the heat-treated samples built only in Z-direction, so the authors decided to also explore the tensile behaviour of the 3D-prinied samples in individual X- and Y-directions. Further to tensile testing, fracture surface observations were performed to identify the principal failure modes. Fractographic investigation on tensile fractures, revealed predominantly a quasi-ductile failure mechanism, showing fine size dimple formation.