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Evaluation of fracture toughness and impact

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Article in Materials and Design July 2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2014.03.013

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Materials and Design 59 (2014) 509515

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes

Evaluation of fracture toughness and impact toughness of laser rapid

manufactured Inconel-625 structures and their co-relation
Ganesh Puppala a,, Aniruddha Moitra b, S. Sathyanarayanan b, Rakesh Kaul a, G. Sasikala b,
Ram Chandra Prasad c, Lalit M. Kukreja a
a
b
c

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013, India

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102, India
Metallurgical Engg. & Materials Science Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 2 September 2013
Accepted 4 March 2014
Available online 21 March 2014
Keywords:
Laser rapid manufacturing
Nickel-based superalloy
Fracture toughness
Instrumented impact test

a b s t r a c t
The present study involves evaluation of fracture toughness and Charpy impact toughness of Inconel 625
structures fabricated by laser based additive manufacturing. The results of crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) fracture toughness are close to those reported for the Inconel 625 weld metal. The nature
of the loadtime traces of instrumented Charpy impact tests revealed that the alloy Inconel 625 in laser
fabricated condition was associated with fully ductile behavior with Charpy V-Notch impact energy in
the range of 4854 J. Stress relieving heat treatment at 950 C for 1 h has resulted in marginal improvement in the impact toughness by about 10%, whereas no clear evidence of such improvement is seen in
the CTOD fracture toughness. Fractographic examination of the Charpy specimens and the results of the
instrumented impact tests imply that the mechanism of crack growth was propagation controlled under
dynamic loading conditions. Dynamic fracture parameters were estimated from the instrumented impact
test data and compared with the experimentally evaluated fracture toughness results.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
With increasing competition due to global economy, manufacturers face challenge to deliver products with new design and maximum possible features in a short time frame, to meet increasing
market demands. This led to the development of various timecompression technologies, including Laser Engineered Net Shaping
(LENS), Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM), Selective Laser
Melting (SLM), Laser Rapid Manufacturing, Direct Metal Deposition
(DMD), Automated Light Fabrication (ALF) and Solid Freeform
Fabrication (SFF), etc. [18]. Laser rapid manufacturing (LRM) is
an emerging computer aided manufacturing methodology that
employs a high power laser beam to build up three-dimensional
component in a layer-by-layer fashion [8]. Unlike conventional
machining based manufacturing processes, LRM is additive in nature and has potential to directly fabricate functional metal parts
with complex geometry and can also be used to add intricate features to existing components with short turnaround time. Due to
its attractive attributes, LRM forms an active area of research with
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 731 2488381/+91 9827631359; fax: +91 731
2488380.
E-mail address: ganesh@rrcat.gov.in (G. Puppala).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2014.03.013
0261-3069/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

different names at various laboratories around the world. Related

literature in this area is focused on process development, its viability for specic end applications, parameter standardization for controlling structural features and mechanical properties of resultant
structures [26,8,9]. Paul et al. have reported optimization of process parameters for LRM of Inconel 625 (IN-625) structures [9]. On
the other hand, related studies by Dinda et al. [5] and Xue and Islam [10] have reported micro-structural and mechanical property
characteristics of laser deposited structures of IN-625. Fatigue
and fracture toughness are very important characteristics inuencing safe life operation of engineering components. There are a few
published reports on fatigue and fracture toughness characterization of Laser Rapid Manufactured (LRMed) structures. Blackwell
and Wisbey [2] reported tensile strength and fracture toughness
of Ti6Al4V alloy structures fabricated by LENS process. Xeu
et al have reported that presence of unmelted/partially melted particles adversely affect fatigue life of LENS processed structures [11].
Theriault et al studied uni-axial fatigue behavior of laser consolidated IN-625 structure at room and elevated temperatures [12].
A recent study performed in authors laboratory has evaluated initiation fracture toughness (J0.2) and compared fatigue crack growth
rate (FCGR) in LRMed structure of IN-625 with that reported for its
wrought counterpart [8]. Present study aims to evaluate the critical

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G. Puppala et al. / Materials and Design 59 (2014) 509515

Crack Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) fracture toughness and to

comprehend the fracture behavior of laser rapid manufactured
structures of alloy IN-625 under dynamic loading conditions using
instrumented Charpy impact tests.

Table 1
Chemical composition (weight%) of the Inconel 625 alloy powder.
C

Cr

Ni

Si

Mo

Fe

Ti

Al

Nb

0.1

22.5

58.6

0.5

9.2

4.7

0.36

0.4

3.6

2. Experimental details
2.1. Material investigated
Inconel 625 is a nickel-based superalloy stiffened by solid-solution strengthening of NiCr matrix by refractory metals like Nb and
Mo [13]. The alloy displays excellent resistance to a wide range of
corrosive environments of unusual severity as well as to high-temperature effects like oxidation and carburization. High resistance of
the alloy against localized corrosion, corrosion-fatigue and stress
corrosion cracking (in chloride ion environment), along with high
tensile strength, makes it an excellent choice for sea-water applications [13]. Due to its good weldability and high oxidation resistance, IN-625 is an attractive material for aerospace applications,
including aircraft ventilation systems, engine exhaust systems
etc. The choice of IN-625 for the present study is because of its high
temperature oxidation resistance, good mechanical strength and
wide use in high temperature applications [4,5,10,13].
2.2. Experimental setup for LRM of IN-625 specimens
The experimental setup for LRM comprised of an in-house
developed 3.5 kW continuous wave CO2 laser [14,15], integrated
with a beam delivery system, co-axial nozzle coupled with a powder-feeder and a 3-axis CNC work station. Rotating disc type powder feeder is used to deliver the powder at a controlled rate.
The main operating component to control the powder feed rate is
a rotating disk with holes of different sizes to provide powder feed
at different rates. The metal powder from the powder feeder is carried through a exible pipe using argon as a carrier gas and fed into
the double walled copper nozzle and delivered at the laser interaction zone along with laser beam. Metal powder is delivered into
the melt pool through a coaxial nozzle such that the powder
stream converges at the substrate surface where laser beam forms
a melt pool (refer Fig. 1b). This kind of powder feeding conguration has the advantage of multi-directional deposition. The schematic and the actual experimental setup used in this study
presented elsewhere [8]. The raw laser beam, emanating out of
the laser system, was folded with a 45 water-cooled gold-coated

plane copper mirror and the folded laser beam was subsequently
focused with a ZnSe lens of 127 mm focal length, housed in a
water-cooled co-axial copper nozzle. Laser rapid manufacturing involved scanning of the substrate/partly formed structure with a
defocused laser beam of about 3 mm diameter along with simultaneous injection of IN-625 alloy powder (particle size: 45106 lm)
through a co-axial nozzle into the resultant molten pool. Each layer
is deposited by cladding the substrate with partial overlap (50%)
of clad tracks/beads. After deposition of each layer the laser head
was raised in Z direction by about 1.0 mm such that a constant distance is maintained between bottom of co-axial nozzle and the
substrate (stand-off distance). Thus multiple clad layers were
deposited one atop other until the desired volume is lled with
the three dimensional clad deposit of alloy Inconel 625. During
the course of LRM, argon gas was blown through the nozzle to protect the ZnSe optics from possible particulate spatter as well as to
shield the molten pool from ambient contamination and oxidation.
Laser processing parameters were optimized for obtaining metallurgically sound clad deposits free of interlayer defects and cracks
[9]. Under optimized experimental parameters, built-up height of
each layer was 1.0 0.2 mm with about 80% powder catchment
efciency. Powder catchment efciency (ratio of weight of powder
material deposited to the weight of the powder delivered for unit
traverse length) critically depends on the stand-off distance and
defocused laser beam diameter. In the present experimental setup
the powder stream coming out of the co-axial nozzle converges to
a circular spot of about 3.5 mm diameter at a stand-off of 15
17 mm. As a defocused laser beam of about 3 mm diameter was
used for cladding, the resultant melt pool diameter was close to
that of the minimum dimension of powder stream at a stand-off
distance of 1517 mm. The width of each clad track/bead (track
width) obtained under above mentioned experimental conditions
of 17 mm stand-off distance and defocused laser beam is about
3 mm. Under these experimental conditions an average deposition
rate in the range 288384 g/h was obtained. Chemical composition
of IN-625 alloy powder (in weight%) and experimental parameters
are presented in Tables 1 and 2 respectively. During the course of
LRM, temperature of laser interaction zone was measured with a

Fig. 1. Various stages of specimen preparation (a) V-grooved stainless steel block used for laser deposition. White arrows indicate reversal of laser scanning direction
between adjacent clad tracks; (b) photograph showing laser deposition of IN-625 in V-grooved region; (c) SS plate with LRMed IN-625 deposit in the central region after
machining; (d) machined SENB specimen (length: 150 mm; width: 20 mm; thickness: 10 mm) with triangular LRMed region at the centre and (e) LRMed and machined plate
from which Charpy impact specimens (shown in the inset) were extraced.

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G. Puppala et al. / Materials and Design 59 (2014) 509515

Table 2
Experimental parameters used for laser rapid manufacturing.
Laser power
2.83 kW

Track width
3 mm

Scan rate
1

6.78.3 mm s

Powder feed rate

Track overlap

Gas ow rate

68 g/min

50%

12 l pm

dual wavelength infrared (IR) thermometer. Laser power is regulated to maintain the melt pool temperature between 1500 and
1600 C manually by reading the output from IR thermometer.
Thus defect-free clad deposits could be produced by manually controlling the melt pool temperature range slightly above the melting
temperature of IN-625 alloy powder (melting temperature range of
alloy IN-625: 12901350 C). Some of the laser deposited specimens (before nal machining) were subjected to stress relieving
heat treatment in a mufe furnace maintained at 950 C for one
hour followed by oil quenching.
2.3. Fabrication & testing of Single Edge Notched Bend (SENB) and
Charpy impact specimens
The substrate used for the fabrication of SENB and Charpy impact specimens was a stainless steel (AISI 316L SS) block
(150 mm  150 mm  25 mm) with a machined 12 mm deep
V-grooved region at its center, as shown in Fig. 1a. The V-grooved
region was deposited with IN-625 alloy powder by LRM, involving
laser cladding along 150 mm length of the V groove region
(indicated with white arrows in Fig. 1a) with partial overlap. The
direction of laser cladding was changed by 180 between adjacent
clad tracks as shown schematically in Fig. 1a (indicated by white
arrows) while Fig. 1b shows the photograph when laser deposition
is in progress. The laser-deposited block was subsequently machined to extract SENB and Charpy impact test specimens as per
test standards ASTM: E1820-13 and ASTM: E23-12c respectively.
Fig. 1ae presents various stages involved in specimen preparation.
Standard notches were provided by wire cut electric discharge
machining in such a way that tip of the machined notches fell in
LRMed region so as to facilitate initiation and propagation of fracture from the LRMed region of the specimens (refer Fig. 1d and e).
The present fabrication methodology not only eliminates lengthy
process of LRM of full SENB/Charpy specimens but also serves
the very purpose of evaluation of fracture toughness (crack tip
opening displacement)/impact toughness of laser rapid manufactured (LRMed) structures of IN-625. A similar specimen fabrication
approach has been reported by Corwin et al [16]. In order to determine possible improvement in toughness due to stress relieving
and micro-structural improvement, three SENB specimens and
six Charpy impact specimens were subjected to a heat-treatment
in a mufe furnace involving heating to 950 C and soaking for
one hour followed by oil quenching to obtain optimum mechanical
properties [13]. In the subsequent text, as laser fabricated specimens shall be termed as-LRM and the specimens subjected to
heat treatment after LRM shall be referred as LRM + HT, respectively. Prior to CTOD testing, LRMed SENB specimens (4 specimens
in as-LRM condition and 3 specimens in LRM + HT condition,
were pre-cracked to generate 1.51.8 mm long fatigue cracks
(a0/W = 0.550.65) where a0 is the initial crack length and W is
the total width of the specimen. The specimens were tested using
a 50 kN servo-hydraulic machine at room temperature under displacement control with crack opening displacement (COD) gauge,
as per standard test procedure ASTM: E1820-13. Fig. 2a presents
CTOD-tested SENB specimens with crack propagation in central
LRMed zone. Fig. 2b presents loadCOD plots of four representative
LRMed specimens. On the other hand, fourteen numbers of impact
test specimens (refer inset in Fig. 1e) were prepared, out of which 8
were tested in as-LRMed condition while 6 were tested in the heat

Fig. 2a. CTOD-tested LRMed SENB specimens with different initial a/W.

Fig. 2b. Representative load vs. COD plots of CTOD tests of LRMed SENB specimens.

treated condition. Stress relieving heat treatment was same as that

used of SENB specimens. Charpy impact tests were carried out at
room temperature using an instrumented impact testing machine
as per test standard ASTM: E23-12c. Charpy impact and SENB specimens are prepared in such a way that the orientation of crack
propagation is along the material built-up direction, which offers
the minimum resistance to crack propagation. Thus the evaluated
values of toughness are ought to be the minimum possible for
the laser fabricated structures. In other orientations of crack propagation with respect to built-up direction the toughness values are
supposed to be more than those obtained in the present study.
3. Results and discussion
Visual examination of surface in the as deposited condition revealed multiple clad tracks, giving it a layered appearance. No visible defects were noticed on the surface of laser rapid
manufactured specimens. Optical microscopic examination carried
out on the transverse cross-sections of laser-deposited structure

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G. Puppala et al. / Materials and Design 59 (2014) 509515

exhibited few isolated micro-pores, with average diameter of

about 3 lm. Laser rapid manufactured structure was associated
with typical cast microstructure with ne cells/dendrites. Details
of microstructural and micro-hardness investigations of LRMed
structures of IN-625 are reported elsewhere [8]. Heat treatment
at 950 C is carried out to relieve the residual stress in the laser
deposited structures. Microstructural examination using optical
microscopy could not bring out any observable changes in the
microstructure of heat treated specimens as compared to asdeposited condition. The marginal improvement in toughness as
a result of heat treatment is believed to be due to the formation
of very ne carbides (MC, M23C6 and M6C) and nickelniobium-rich
phase, gamma prime [13]. Stress relief and formation of very ne
precipitates could have resulted in marginal improvement in the
toughness of laser deposited specimens.

3.1. Crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) testing

Load vs. COD plots of LRMed SENB specimens (as-LRM and
LRM + HT) exhibited fully ductile fracture without any pop-in
behavior, as shown in Fig. 2b. Therefore, the value of dm (critical
CTOD at maximum force plateau for fully plastic behavior) was calculated for all the specimens. CTOD (dm) value of as-LRM specimens were found to be in the range of 0.280.4 mm while for
LRM + HT specimens the value of dm was in the range of 0.34
0.54 mm. Fig. 3 presents magnied view of the crack path in two
CTOD-tested SENB specimens. Absence of any crack tip blunting
after pre-crack is indicative of dominant elastic stress (plane
strain) conditions prevailing due to adequate thickness constraint.
There are no published reports on CTOD fracture toughness measurement of laser-fabricated structures of IN-625 alloy. However,
there are two reports of CTOD fracture toughness of IN-625 weld
metal (WM). Cam et al. [17] reported that CTOD fracture toughness
of WM of laser welded IN-625 sheet was in the range of 0.48
0.54 mm whereas Yeni and Kocak [18] reported relatively higher
value of CTOD (d5max = 0.530.88 mm) for similar laser WM of
IN-625. The values of d5max for the IN-625 in the wrought form
are about 1.031.16 mm [17]. The lower CTOD fracture toughness
obtained in the present investigation could be due to inclusions
formed as a result of atmospheric contamination during laser deposition. Also the thickness of the specimens used in the present study
was 10 mm whereas the reported results were obtained from
3.2 mm thick laser welded sheet specimens. Specimen thickness
strongly inuences its fracture toughness as mode of fracture undergoes a transition from plane stress to plane strain condition (with
associated increase in constraint at the crack tip) with increase in
thickness. This explains relatively lower CTOD values obtained in
the present study with respect to those reported in literature.

3.2. Dynamic fracture behavior of LRMed Inconel 625 Charpy

specimens
Depending on mechanical property characteristics of the alloys, loadtime trace of instrumented impact test can be categorized into three types viz. type I, type II and type III, as shown in
Fig. 4 [19]. The loadtime (Pt) trace of instrumented Charpy impact specimens provide information concerning general yield load
(PGY), maximum load (Pmax) and fracture load (PF) and also the
time corresponding to, onset of brittle fracture [20]. Type I behavior, representing brittle or fast running fracture, is characterized
by sudden drop in load occurring at general yield indicating linear-elastic material behavior. On the other hand, type II behavior
involves fast fracture occurring after general yielding at PF = Pmax.
In contrast, type III plot represents complete ductile fracture with
no sudden drop in load. Loadtime plot of this kind is characterized by initial drop in load followed by long tail representing
arrest of fast fracture after some propagation. Instrumented Charpy impact tested LRMed IN-625 specimens exhibited type III Pt
traces, which are indicative of ductile fracture. In order to
determine fracture energy, loadtime traces obtained from instrumented impact tests, were subsequently converted into load
displacement (Pd) traces. Fig. 5a presents a typical Pt trace of
instrumented impact test showing energy consumed in crack initiation (EI) and its propagation (EP) [20]. Electronically acquired
data obtained through oscilloscope (by integrating Pd trace),
was validated by comparing total fracture energy (ET) with that
provided by analog read out of the machine. The difference between these two energy values was within 2%. Fig. 5b presents
Pd plots of as-LRM and LRM + HT specimens of IN-625 specimens. It has been observed that heat treatment of LRMed structure brought about an increase in the fraction of initiation
fracture energy (EI/ET) from about 50% in as-LRM condition to
about 63% in heat treated condition. LRM + HT specimens recorded about 1013% higher Charpy impact energy (Cv) over
As-LRM specimens. Lateral expansion (LE) of as-LRM
specimens was consistently in the range of 2326 mils
(0.580.66 mm) whereas LRM + HT specimens exhibited LE of
1830 mils (0.460.76 mm). Both kinds of impact tested specimens displayed at fracture surfaces with small shear lips. Fractographic examination of impact tested specimens under
scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed dimpled fracture
surfaces of AS-LRM and LRM + HT specimens, indicating ductile nature of fracture, as shown in Fig. 6. It has been observed
that the dimples were aligned along the length of columnar
grains, indicating that the crack followed the growth direction
of columnar grains. Lateral expansion measurements and fractographic examination are indicative of ductile nature of crack
growth in LRMed Inconel-625 specimens under dynamic loading

Fig. 3. Magnied view CTOD-tested LRMed SENB specimen showing the nature of crack propagation. (p: extent of pre-crack from the end of machine notch.)

G. Puppala et al. / Materials and Design 59 (2014) 509515

513

Fig. 4. Different kinds of loadtime (Pt) traces obtained from instrumented Charpy impact tests. (PGY: general yield load; Pmax: maximum load; PF: fracture load) [19,20].

estimate fracture toughness parameters from un-precracked

standard Charpy specimens. Pd traces have been analyzed using
a J-integral or CTOD procedure assuming crack initiation at the maximum load [24,25]. It may be noted that fairly accurate estimate of
dynamic yield strength of the material can be made from general
yield load, PGY determined from the Pd plot of instrumented Charpy
test [26,27]. The dynamic yield strength (rYd) can be estimated from
general yield load (PGY) using the following relation [27]:

rYd MPa 46:7 PGY kN

Fig. 5a. Schematic of loadtime trace from an instrumented impact test with
details of various load points, energy consumed for crack initiation (EI) and
propagation (EP) [20].

According to empirical relation proposed by Sumpter and Sorem [28,29] for shallow cracks (a/W = 0.150.3), plastic part of
CTOD (dpl) = rdpl, where r: plastic rotation factor (0.2) and dpl:
plastic displacement part of Pd trace. Total CTOD at initiation
(diD) is given as the sum of elastic and plastic parts as given by
the following equation (di = de + dpl) [29].

diD K2  1  m 2 =2  rYd  E dpl

where K = 4.67 PF (PF: load at crack initiation/maximum load); m:

Poisson0 s ratio and E: Elastic modulus. Based on the empirical relation proposed by Sumpter [28] for a specimen with a/W = 0.2, the
value of initiation fracture toughness (Ji) is given by the following
Eq. (3):

Ji 1:45EI =B  b

Fig. 5b. Load versus displacement plots and corresponding CVN energy of
specimens in the as-LRM as well as LRM + HT condition.

conditions, which is also evident from Type III load displacement

curves (refer Fig. 5b).
3.3. Estimation of fracture toughness parameters from instrumented
Charpy impact results
The potential of using conventional Charpy V-Notch (CVN) test
in determining the dynamic fracture toughness parameters like
KID, JId and did has been reported earlier [2023]. Although precracked Charpy specimens are recommended for evaluation of
dynamic fracture toughness parameters, an attempt is made to

where EI: Energy absorbed up to crack initiation; B: specimen thickness; b: (Wa0) = 8 mm for full size CVN specimen. However for
materials exhibiting type II or type III load time traces and elastic
plastic procedure has to be applied. Usually such traces have been
analyzed using J-integral procedure assuming crack initiation occurs at maximum load [24,25]. Ghoneim and Hammad [30] proposed that fracture initiation occurs at a load equal to
(Pmax + PGY)/2, while Norris [31] based on a comparison of nite element results with experimental data, reported that the time to
crack initiation, ti, equals 40% of the time to reach the maximum
load, tmax. Based on these critical considerations the value of EI in
the Eq. (3) is assumed as the energy absorbed up to the maximum
load (Pmax) and (Pmax + PGY)/2 in the load displacement traces of the
Charpy impact tests [24,25,30]. Dynamic plane strain fracture
toughness (KId) has been estimated from Charpy energy (CV) by various researchers [20,32]. Eq. (4), given below is one of the most successful correlations applicable over a wide range of CV (395 J) and
yield strength (270815 MPa) [32].

KId CV 15:5CV 0:375

Table 3 presents dynamic fracture toughness parameters estimated from above mentioned empirical relations. It has been noted
that the experimentally determined CTOD (dm) values were in
close agreement with those estimated from Charpy impact results.
J-integral fracture toughness, estimated from Charpy impact
results, assuming crack initiation at maximum load [24,25], are

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G. Puppala et al. / Materials and Design 59 (2014) 509515

Fig. 6. SEM fractographs of Charpy impact tested specimens (a) as-LRM (Cv: 48.5 J) and (b) LRM + HT (Cv: 54 J). Please note that rack propagation is from bottom to top.

Table 3
Comparison of estimated dynamic fracture parameters with experimental results.
Toughness parameter

Estimated from impact data of Charpy

specimens in As-LRM condition

Estimated from impact data of Charpy

specimens in LRM-HT condition

Experimentally
evaluated data

CTOD (di) (mm)

JiD (kJ/m2)

0.20.24 [30,31]
205326 [26,27]
188200 [30]
66

0.360.37 [30,31]
480500 [26,27]
234276 [30]
69

(dm): 0.280.54 (present study)

(J1c): 194254 [8]

p
KId (CV) (MPa m)

higher with respect to experimentally evaluated results reported

for LRMed IN-625 [8]. Whereas it is seen that the estimated JiD, values from CV results are close to experimentally evaluated fracture
toughness values [8] considering the relations proposed by
Ghoneim and Hammad [30] for both the as-LRMed and LRM-HT
specimens. From these calculations it can be inferred that the
assumption of initiation of crack at the load value of (Pmax + PGY)/
2 results in close estimation of J integral fracture toughness values
from the instrumented impact test data for the LRMed specimens
of Inconel 625. Present study shows a pathway for a fair estimation
of critical fracture parameters like J-integral fracture toughness
and critical crack opening displacement of laser manufactured
structures of IN-625 from the instrumented Charpy impact test
data using the suitable empirical relations reported in the open literature. Thus the study is helpful in presenting a cost saving and
speedy way of fracture parameter estimation from the instrumented Charpy impact test data which is relatively much easier
to conduct and analyze the results. However such estimation procedure shall be validated experimentally at least once before being
put to use for engineering applications.

4. Conclusions
Present study has demonstrated that laser rapid manufactured
structures of Inconel-625 are associated with fairly good fracture
toughness. Laser rapid manufactured specimens; in as-laser rapid
manufactured and heat treated conditions (at 950 C) exhibited
stable crack growth behavior during CTOD test without any popin. CTOD fracture toughness (dm) was found to be in the range of
0.280.54 mm, which is relatively lower than those reported for
IN-625 weld metal. Laser rapid manufactured Charpy specimens
displayed type III loadtime behavior under dynamic loading conditions indicating ductile nature of fracture. Stress relieving heat
treatment brought about a modest increase in impact energy of laser rapid manufactured specimens from 4850 J to 5054 J, with
initiation fracture energy registering a rise from about 50% (in
as-laser rapid manufactured condition) to about 60% (in heat
treated condition). Fracture toughness parameters, viz. CTODdi
and JiD estimated from instrumented impact test results of unprecracked Charpy specimens, were in close agreement with the

Not available

experimentally evaluated data considering appropriate empirical

relations proposed in the open literature.
Acknowledgements
Authors thankfully acknowledge the support provided by Dr. C.
P. Paul, Shri Harish Kumar, Shri T. Reghu, Shri C. H. Prem Singh, Shri
C.S. Mandloi and Shri Ram Nihal Ram in conducting the experiments, preparation of specimens and useful technical discussions.
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