Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Laser Welded 316L SLM Parts

Abstract

This paper focuses on a study conducted on laser welding of printed 316L parts that were produced with a selective laser melting process. Commercial sheet material was used as a reference for the printed 316L parts. The effect of heat treatment on joint properties, and on what stage of the process it should be applied, was studied with metallography and mechanical testing. Optical microscopy was applied to analyze the microstructure of the base material and the weld seam. Tensile testing was applied for determining monotonic strength of different structures. The printed base material showed higher strength, but lower ductility in comparison to the commercial sheet material. In the welded condition, tensile properties were impaired by the welding, but for the commercial sheet material, no clear effects were seen. The difference was hypothesized to be caused by the higher strength mismatch in the printed joints. For the welded structures, the best strength-ductility combination was achieved by heat treating the parts both before and after the laser welding.