Characterization of 3D Printed Stainless Steel SS316L Powders Joined by TIG-, Plasma- and Laser Welding

Harraz, M.; El-Mahallawy,, N.; Abd Elghany, K.; Schleser, M.; Palkowski, H.; Klingner, Anke

doi:10.21608/ejmtc.2017.1052.1045

Characterization of 3D Printed Stainless Steel SS316L Powders Joined by TIG-, Plasma- and Laser Welding

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Engineering Materials, Faculty of Engineering Materials Science, The German University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt

² Engineering Materials, Faculty of Engineering Materials Science, The German University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt,

³ Laser and Additive Manufacturing Lab, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), Helwan, Egypt

⁴ FH Aachen, University of Applied Sciences, D-52064 Aachen, Germany

⁵ IMET, Institut fuer Metallurgie, TU Clausthal, Germany

⁶ The German University in Cairo

10.21608/ejmtc.2017.1052.1045

Abstract

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is becoming more and more common in industry fabrication, especially for spare parts which cannot be found easily on the local market and for tailor made parts. For large parts and due to its size limitations, it is sometimes required to join 3D printed parts with other 3D printed parts or conventionally produced parts. In this work, 3D printed flat plates 4mm thick were prepared by direct laser sintering of SS316L powders. Mechanical properties and microstructure were investigated. Elongation and maximum tensile stress of 3D printed flat plates are with 1.3% and 704MPa smaller than the values 2% and 1241MPa of cold-rolled SS316 parts. The 3D printed flat plates were joined by welding using TIG welding, plasma welding and laser welding. The welded joints were tested for their mechanical properties and microstructure. For the used welding conditions, the fracture occurred outside the weld zone. The maximum stress of the welded parts is 65-80% of 3D printed flat plates. The elongation of the welded parts is above 3%.

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