Maraging steel is a high-performance material valued for its exceptional properties, making it ideal for demanding applications such as aerospace, tooling, and automotive industries, where high strength, toughness, and precision are required. These steels can be prepared by powder metallurgy techniques, which offer new processing possibilities. This paper introduces novel thermal powder pre-treatment and its impact on the final mechanical properties. Solid solution pre-treatment results in a modest improvement in strength (from 972 MPa to 1000 MPa), while the use of pre-aged powder achieves the highest strength (1316 MPa) and lowest ductility (2.6%). A self-composite material is created by mixing pre-treated powders with the same chemical composition but different properties. Such material was characterized by intermediate strength (1174 MPa) and ductility (3.1%). Although challenges such a porosity and oxidation were present, this approach allows for tuning of mechanical properties by mixing pre-treated powders, offering significant potential for advanced engineering applications.

Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering Faculty of Chemical Technology University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 Praha 6 Dejvice 166 28 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Physics Czech Academy of Science Na Slovance 1999 2 Praha 8 182 21 Prague Czech Republic

University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings Czech Technical University Prague Trinecka 1024 273 43 Bustehrad Czech Republic

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