Investigation of the structural and tribological properties of 316L stainless steel manufactured using variable production parameters by selective laser melting method

The structural, mechanical and tribological properties of the parts manufactured by the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) method, which is one of the additive manufacturing methods, are greatly affected by the parameters and strategies used in manufacturing. Therefore, it is extremely important to know/control the effect of the parameters to be used in manufacturing on the mechanical and tribological properties of the material and to determine the optimum production conditions. In this thesis, the effects of these production parameters on the structural, mechanical properties and wear performance of 316L stainless steel were investigated. Because many production parameters are involved in the SLM method, it was tried to save material and time by systematically reducing the manufacturing parameters. In experimental studies, the parameters of laser power, scanning speed, layer thickness and hatch distance, which directly affect the laser energy density, were investigated. The effects of these parameters on the mechanical and tribological properties of 316L steel were investigated with X-ray diffraction meter (XRD), microhardness device, thermal conductivity device, tribometer device, optical microscope, 3D optical profilometer and scanning electron microscope (SEM). As a result, it was determined that the manufacturing parameters/strategies used in the SLM method have a significant effect on the mechanical properties and wear performance of 316L stainless steel.