Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the recently studied research areas, due to its ability to eliminate different subtractive manufacturing limitations, such as difficultly in fabricating complex parts, material wastage, and numbers of sequential operations. Laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) AM for SS316L is known for complex part production due to layer-by-layer deposition and is extensively used in the aerospace, automobile, and medical sectors. The process parameter selection is crucial for deciding the overall quality of the SS316L build component with L-PBF AM. This review critically elaborates the effect of various input parameters, i.e., laser power, scanning speed, hatch spacing, and layer thickness, on various mechanical properties of AM SS316L, such as tensile strength, hardness, and the effect of porosity, along with the microstructure evolution. The effect of other AM parameters, such as the build orientation, pre-heating temperature, and particle size, on the build properties is also discussed. The scope of this review also concerns the challenges in practical applications of AM SS316L. Hence, the residual stress formation, their influence on the mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of the AM build part for bio implant application is also considered. This review involves a detailed comparison of properties achievable with different AM techniques and various post-processing techniques, such as heat treatment and grain refinement effects on properties. This review would help in selecting suitable process parameters for various human body implants and many different applications. This study would also help to better understand the effect of each process parameter of PBF-AM on the SS316L build part quality.

The present paper aims to analyze the influence of process parameters (tool traverse speed and tool rotational speed) on the macrostructure, microhardness, and mechanical properties of dissimilar friction stir welded (FSW) butt joints. Nine combinations of FSW parameters welded joints of aluminum alloys 7020-T651 and 5083-H111 were characterized. Plates in 5 mm thickness were welded using the FSW method as dissimilar joints with three values of tool rotation parameters (400, 800, and 1200 rpm) and three welding speeds (100, 200, 300 mm/min). The macroscopic observations revealed various shapes of the stir zone and defects resulting from excess and insufficient heat input. Microfractographic analysis and tensile test results showed that the samples made with the FSW parameters of 800 rpm and 200 mm/min had the best strength properties: UTS = 303 MPa, YS = 157 MPa, and A = 11.6 %. Moreover, for all welds at welding speed 100 mm/min, the joint efficiency reached 95%.

The paper is focused on the examination of the internal quality of joints created in a multi-material additive manufacturing process. The main part of the work focuses on experimental production and non-destructive testing of restrained joints of modified PLA (polylactic acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) three-dimensional (3D)-printed on RepRap 3D device that works on the “open source” principle. The article presents the outcomes of a non-destructive materials test in the form of the data from the Laser Amplified Ultrasonography, microscopic observations of the joints area and tensile tests of the specially designed samples. The samples with designed joints were additively manufactured of two materials: Specially blended PLA (Market name—PLA Tough) and conventionally made ABS. The tests are mainly focused on the determination of the quality of material connection in the joints area. Based on the results obtained, the samples made of two materials were compared in the end to establish which produced material joint is stronger and have a lower amount of defects.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different energy density values used for the additively manufactured elements using selective laser melting (SLM).The group of process parameters considered was selected from the first-stage parameters identified in preliminary research. Samples manufactured using three different sets of parameter values were subjected to static tensile and compression tests. The samples were also subjected to dynamic Split–Hopkinson tests. To verify the microstructural changes after the dynamic tests, microstructural analyses were conducted. Additionally, the element deformation during the tensile tests was analyzed using digital image correlation (DIC). To analyze the influence of the selected parameters and verify the layered structure of the manufactured elements, sclerometer scratch hardness tests were carried out on each sample. Based on the research results, it was possible to observe the porosity growth mechanism and its influence on the material strength (including static and dynamic tests). Parameters modifications that caused 20% lower energy density, as well as elongation of the elements during tensile testing, decreased twice, which was strictly connected with porosity growth. An increase of energy density, by almost three times, caused a significant reduction of force fluctuations differences between both tested surfaces (parallel and perpendicular to the building platform) during sclerometer hardness testing. That kind of phenomenon had been taken into account in the microstructure investigations before and after dynamic testing, where it had been spotted as a positive impact on material deformations based on fused material formation after SLM processing.

The effects of build orientation and heat treatment on the crack growth behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS) fabricated via a selective laser melting additive manufacturing process were investigated. Available research results on additively manufactured metallic parts still require a substantial expansion. The most important issue connected with the metal properties after additive manufacturing are the high anisotropy properties, especially from the fatigue point of view. The study examined the crack growth behavior of additively manufactured 316L in comparison to a conventionally made reference material. Both groups of samples were obtained using precipitation heat treatment. Different build orientations in the additively manufactured samples and rolling direction in the reference samples were taken into account as well. Precipitation heat treatment of additively manufactured parts allowed one to achieve microstructure and tensile properties to similar to those of conventionally made pieces. The heat treatment positively affected the fatigue properties. Additionally, precipitation heat treatment of additively manufactured elements significantly affected the reduction of fatigue cracking velocity and changed the fatigue cracking mechanism.