Effect of argon and nitrogen atmospheres on the properties of stainless steel 316 L parts produced by laser-powder bed fusion
Journal article, 2019

The role of the inert gas during laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is to remove the process by-products and the air that is initially present in the process chamber. On this purpose, different gas supply options are available. The effect of the process gas and its purity, using argon and nitrogen, on the properties of the 316 L stainless steel produced by L-PBF was studied. The results obtained showed that utilization of argon and nitrogen result in residual oxygen levels that vary over the course of the process sequence in the process chamber. It can be concluded that 316 L stainless steel is a robust alloy to process by L-PBF. A limited effect of the residual oxygen or the gas type (argon or nitrogen) on the tensile properties of the 316 L stainless steel parts was registered. The oxygen and nitrogen pick-up within the produced parts are limited. However, when processing 316 L stainless steel with lower purity gas supply such as a nitrogen generator, risks related to powder degradation arise. Out of the available gas options, the findings highlighted that processing with high purity argon ensures limited powder degradation and high toughness of the produced parts.

316 L austenitic stainless steel

Additive manufacturing

Surface chemistry

Mechanical properties

Laser powder bed fusion

Atmosphere purity

Nitrogen

Argon

Author

Camille Nicole Géraldine Pauzon

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture

Eduard Hryha

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture

Pierre Forêt

Linde AG

Lars Nyborg

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture

Materials and Design

0264-1275 (ISSN) 1873-4197 (eISSN)

Vol. 179 107873

Subject Categories

Tribology

Other Materials Engineering

Metallurgy and Metallic Materials

DOI

10.1016/j.matdes.2019.107873

More information

Latest update

7/12/2019