Abstract
Laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing is used for demanding applications in industries such as aerospace. However, machine-specific, optimized process conditions and parameters are required to assure consistent part quality. In addition, differences in supplied powder can cause variation in the mechanical properties of the final parts. In this paper, the variability in mechanical properties of 316L stainless steel produced with two different laser powder bed fusion machines from two different powder batches was studied by producing an identical set of tensile and impact toughness test specimens. The samples were subjected to stress-relieving, solution annealing and hot isostatic pressing to assess the effectiveness of standardized heat-treatments in reducing variation in the mechanical properties of the built parts. Porosity, microstructure, tensile properties, and impact toughness of the specimens were measured to study the effect of changing the material, machine, and heat treatment. The maximum differences observed between the studied machine-powder combinations were approximately 7% for tensile properties and approximately 20% for impact toughness. HIP reduced the variability in all other studied properties except elongation. All the specimens fulfil the minimum requirements set in ASTM F3184-16 for AM 316L.
Highlights
Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) is already used for serial production for demanding applications in industries such as aerospace [1]
In the Hall flow test, where the diameter of the orifice is 2.5 mm, the SLM powder had a mean flowability value of 20 s/50 g, while the EOS powder did not flow through the funnel at all
This research study simulated how varying the AM metal powder source and L-PBF machine affect the quality of the produced components – tensile properties, powder bed density, porosity, and impact toughness
Summary
Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) is already used for serial production for demanding applications in industries such as aerospace [1]. While some end-component users manufacture their own components in self-operated AM factories, most businesses purchase the needed components using an AM supplier network. Using a global AM supplier network is a vital part of distributed manufacturing concepts [2], often discussed in operations management research [3]. Product data is sent in digital form to a local manufacturing unit for on-demand production. This is especially convenient in the digital spare part business, which several companies are investigating [4] due to evident advantages in, for instance, warehousing and transportation costs and reduced lead times [5].
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