Effect of the powder feedstock on the oxide dispersion strengthening of 316L stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion

Journal article, 2020

In this study, the concept of enhancing the in-situ oxide precipitation in laser powder-bed fusion processed parts is investigated using powder produced by water and gas atomization. By using water-atomized 316L powder, compared to gas-atomized powder, more oxide precipitates were introduced into the microstructure with the intent to enhance the strength of the material, as an alternative path to oxide dispersion strengthened materials. The results showed that oxide precipitation was homogenous, with higher-number densities of oxides in the sample built using the water-atomized powder. The oxides were observed to be amorphous and enriched in Si and Cr. The average size of the oxides was ~56 nm. After an annealing heat-treatment at 900 °C, the oxides were observed to remain within the microstructure with only minor changes in size and composition. Mechanical testing at room temperature and at elevated temperature did not show any increase in strength relative to the sample built using gas-atomized powder. However, it was shown that the use of water atomized powder in the L-PBF process provides a viable method of introducing and tailoring the number of oxide particles within a built component relative to a conventional gas atomized powder.