3D Additive Metal Extrusion Manufacturing of 316L Stainless Steel
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Date
2022-04-20
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Abstract
The primary objective of our research is to analyze the properties of parts produced by microwave sintering and conventional thermal sintering on 316L Stainless Steel samples produced by way of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing. FFF is a novel additive manufacturing technique that promises great reductions to inaccessibility, production costs, and operational training over more established metal additive manufacturing methods such as Metal Injection Molding (MIM), Electron Beam Melting (EBM), and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). FFF printed parts require a complex heat treatment process to separate the metal particles from the polymeric binder they are embedded and to subsequently fuse together the metal particles. This work investigates some sintering options suited to FFF metal printing and the parameters thereof with respect to the quality of the final sintered piece. Some early studies have shown that with the proper set of sintering parameters the mechanical properties, density and porosity levels of the sintered part can be on par with those manufactured by conventional more costly metallurgical methods. In this present study, various sintering parameters are investigated to optimize the quality of the final part by way of both, conventional thermal sintering, and microwave sintering. The properties of the material in response to the two sintering methods, varying sintering temperatures, and sintering environments are investigated. Results are presented on surface finish, cross-sectional appearance and microstructure, internal porosity, material hardness, compression testing, and elemental composition and distribution analysis.
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Keywords
Additive Manufacturing, 316L Stainless Steel, Sintering, Microstructure, Metal Extrusion, Porosity, Fused Filament Fabrication