Abstract
Binder jetting additive manufacturing (BJAM) has a unique advantage in mass production of steel components owing to its high productivity and large scalability. Powders used for BJAM can be further explored towards the adoption of low-cost material systems to enable industrialization in high-volume markets. This provides a use-case for water-atomized AISI 4340 steel, which offers comparatively good mechanical properties while reducing raw material cost. This work compared densification, sintering anisotropy, and geometrical deformation in BJAM WA 4340 parts with gas-atomized counterparts during sintering in an optical dilatometer. Dilatometry results were then processed using a master sintering curve (MSC) approach, allowing for further comparison. The results showed that the BJAM WA 4340 components can attain final densities comparable to the GA counterparts via supersolidus liquid phase sintering (SLPS) while maintaining geometrical fidelity. This trend will be further validated on BJAM parts with more complex geometries.