Anisotropy in tensile properties and fracture behaviour of 316L stainless steel parts manufactured by fused deposition modelling and sintering

Abstract

Fused deposition modelling and sintering (FDMS) is a potential metal additive manufacturing technology due to its low cost and high efficiency. The mixture of metal powder and binder goes through heating, extrusion, debinding and sintering processes to produce the compact finished part. However, it is generally believed that parts produced by FDMS possess poor and anisotropic tensile properties, which always attributes to the weak interlayer combination. The current work aimed to enhance tensile properties and better understand the anisotropic fracture behavior of the 316L stainless steel prepared by FDMS. By process optimization, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength obtained in this work are increased by 26.1% and 15.2%, based on the highest performance reported in previous studies. According to the ultimate tensile strength, the performance difference between the horizontal and vertical directions has been reduced to 27%. Furthermore, the experimental results indicated that the clustered irregular shape holes evolved from primitive voids prefer to distribute in the build direction, resulting in anisotropic tensile performance. It is suggested that the mechanical properties could be improved by applying a smaller extrusion diameter and rolling-assisted printing. In addition, the current FDMS parts show qualified performance for producing the customized and small batch components.

Keywords

Fused deposition modelling / 316L stainless steel / Anisotropy / Mechanical properties / Fracture behaviour

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001809(51805238)

Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission(KQTD20170328154443162)