Fiber laser selective melting of 316L stainless steel powder

A selective laser melting (SLM) system equipped with fiber laser was designed to study the technical parameters, energy density, relative density, surface profile and characteristics of micro structures of 316L stainless steel powder. Results show that the scan speed has most significant effect on fabrication results, and the relative density increases with the energy density as an appropriate operational technical factor in SLM process. Surface profiles are determined by the ratio between laser power and scan speed. The relations among energy input, the melting and solidification way of the powder, the ratio between laser power and scan speed, relative density and surface profiles are deeply discussed. The micro-structure of SLM part’s fused line that between adjacent tracks or interlaye