A new investigation on graphene-reinforced 304L nanocomposite made by additive manufacturing process: Microstructure and tribology study

Abstract

In this study, selective laser melting (SLM), as an additive manufacturing method, was applied to produce graphene/304L nanocomposites with various graphene particle sizes and contents. The effect of the graphene particle size (1 μm and 50 nm) and volume fraction on the microstructure behaviors, constitutional phases, mechanical performance, and wear characteristics of the SLM-processed nanocomposite specimens was studied. It was concluded that the reinforcing particle content and size play a remarkable impact on the densification features and the densification level improvs when the fine starting reinforcing particles are used, due to the development of the reinforcement–matrix wettability. In addition, the microstructure refinement and increased hardness values occurred in the SLM-processed nanocomposite system with the addition of reinforcing particles (both sizes). The wear examination indicated that the coefficient of friction (COF), wear rate, and mass loss decreased due to the reinforcement prominent effect, namely grain refinement and grain-boundary strengthening. According to surface topography analysis, the depth of the groove in the processed sample made by fine graphene reinforcement is lower than the other sample.