(1. Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China) (2. State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die & Mould Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)
The additive manufacturing (AM) technology based on layer-by-layer stacking reduces the traditional 3D manufacturing to 2D manufacturing, and breaks through the constraints and limitations of traditional manufacturing methods, especially is suitable for manufacturing mold steel with complex comformal cooling channels. AM mold steel materials, AM process and properties are the main factors affecting the application of AM mold steel. For this reason, this paper summarizes the research progress of material design and preparation of AM mold steel powder materials, discusses several typical manufacturing processes for mold steel and their performance. Finally, this paper introduces the application example and present situation of AM mold steel. This paper may supply guidance for the further research of AM mold steel.