Rapid Manufacturing Metallic Parts via Selective Laser Melting

Abstract

316L stainless steel parts were manufactured via selective laser melting in this work. The surface morphology, microstructure, density and mechanical property were characterized. It is found that the surface contains a little amount of oxide and splash with balling effect. Microstructure in low magnification shows features of scan molten tracks and molten pools; microstructure in high magnification depicts very fine crystal under rapid cooling. The tensile strength of as-received samples is 652.12 MPa, with a density of 95.6%. Therefore the gas atomized 316L stainless steel powders could be used in manufacturing high quality parts with complex shapes via selective laser melting method.