This paper presents an experimental study on the metallurgical issues associated with selective laser melting of Invar 36 and stainless steel 316 L and the resulting coefficient of thermal expansion. Invar 36 has been used in aircraft control systems, electronic devices, optical instruments, and medical instruments that are exposed to significant temperature changes. Stainless steel 316 L is commonly used for applications that require high corrosion resistance in the aerospace, medical, and nuclear industries. Both Invar 36 and stainless steel 316 L are weldable austenitic face-centered cubic crystal structures, but stainless steel 316 L may experience chromium evaporation and Invar 36 may experience weld cracking during the welding process. Various laser process parameters were tested based on a full factorial design of experiments. The microstructure, material composition, coefficient of thermal expansion, and magnetic dipole moment were measured for both materials. It was found that there exists a critical laser energy density for each material, EC, for which selective laser melting process is optimal for material properties. The critical laser energy density provides enough energy to induce stable melting, homogeneous microstructure and chemical composition, resulting in thermal expansion and magnetic properties in line with that expected for the wrought material. Below the critical energy, a lack of fusion due to insufficient melt tracks and discontinuous beads was observed. The melt track was also unstable above the critical energy due to vaporization and microsegregation of alloying elements. Both cases can generate stress risers and part flaws during manufacturing. These flaws could be avoided by finding the critical laser energy needed for each material. The critical laser energy density was determined to be 86.8 J/mm3 for Invar 36 and 104.2 J/mm3 for stainless steel 316 L.

A study of thermal expansion coefficients and microstructure during selective laser melting of Invar 36 and stainless steel 316L

Three-dimensional finite element analysis of temperatures and stresses in wide-band laser surface melting processing

Metal additive manufacturing has employed several technologies and processes to advance from rapid prototyping to rapid manufacturing. Additive manufacturing technologies compete with traditional manufacturing methods through their ability to produce complex structures and customized products. This paper aims to study the characteristics of stainless steel 316L (UNS S31603) parts produced using a selective laser melting machine. In the aerospace industry, turbine blades are typically manufactured from nickel-based alloys, titanium alloys, and stainless steels. Several geometries typical of airfoil blades were examined. The main goal is to investigate the material characteristics and surface features of the airfoil blades. The study included the geometrical errors, surface microstructures, material compositions, material phases, and residual stresses of the samples produced. The characteristics of the parts produced were investigated based on experimental observations. The paper also discusses the influence of the part dimension and orientation on the profile error, surface microstructure, and residual stress.

On the characterization of stainless steel 316L parts produced by selective laser melting

Predicting the effects of material properties gradient and residual stresses on the bending fatigue strength of induction hardened aeronautical gears

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A review about the effects of structural and operational factors on the gigacycle fatigue of steels

Deep induction hardening has been performed on two batches of smooth cylindrical specimens with a hardening depth respectively around 2 mm and 3 mm. The distributions of axial and circumferential residual stresses are analysed for the two specimen batches by X-ray diffraction technique. The radial normal stress field is estimated through the use of the well known Moore and Evans correction. Finally, the experimental residual stresses are compared with those obtained from a multiphysic finite element modelling of the whole induction treatment process, including electromagnetic, thermal, metallurgical and mechanical phenomena. The simulated residual stress field is in good agreement with X-ray analysis especially at depths lower than one-tenth the specimen diameter. At deeper depths, a correction of the experimental X-ray analysis has been done to obtain realistic values.

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Dominique Coupard

Papers

Residual stresses in surface induction hardening of steels : Comparison between experiment and simulation