Microstructure and mechanical properties relationship of additively manufactured 316L stainless steel by selective laser melting

Anne-Helene Puichaud (1) , Camille Flament (1) , Aziz Chniouel (2) , Fernando Lomello (2) , Elodie Rouesne (3) , Pierre-François Giroux (3) , Hicham Maskrot (2) , Frederic Schuster , Jean-Luc Béchade (1)

1 SRMP - Service de recherches de métallurgie physique
2 SEARS - Service d'études analytiques et de réactivité des surfaces
3 SRMA - Service des Recherches Métallurgiques Appliquées

Additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly expanding in many industrial applications because of the versatile possibilities of fast and complex fabrication of added value products. This manufacturing process would significantly reduce manufacturing time and development cost for nuclear components. However, the process leads to materials with complex microstructures, and their structural stability for nuclear application is still uncertain. This study focuses on 316L stainless steel fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) in the context of nuclear application, and compares with a cold-rolled solution annealed 316L sample. The effect of heat treatment (HT) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) on the microstructure and mechanical properties is discussed. It was found that after HT, the material microstructure remains mostly unchanged, while the HIP treatment removes the materials porosity, and partially re-crystallises the microstructure. Finally, the tensile tests showed excellent results, satisfying RCC-MR code requirements for all AM materials.

Domains: Chemical Sciences

Anne-Helene Puichaud, Camille Flament, Aziz Chniouel, Fernando Lomello, Elodie Rouesne, et al.. Microstructure and mechanical properties relationship of additively manufactured 316L stainless steel by selective laser melting. EPJ N - Nuclear Sciences & Technologies, 2019, 5, pp.23. ⟨10.1051/epjn/2019051⟩. ⟨cea-02458434⟩