Characterization of laser metal deposited 316L stainless steel

Abstract

Laser metal deposition (LMD) is an innovative manufacturing technique that uses laser to melt powders to fabricate fully dense components layer by layer. It is capable of processing different metallic powders and can also be used for consolidating different powder to produce custom alloys or functionally graded materials (FGM). The properties of laser processed materials is dependent on the final microstructure of the parts which in turn is dependent on the LMD processing parameters. This study investigates the effects of laser power on the structural integrity, microstructure and microhardness of laser deposited 316L stainless steel. The result showed that the laser power has much influence on the evolving microstructure and microhardness of the components. The average microhardness of the samples were observed to decrease as the laser power increased due to grain coarsening.