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Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts / BETHAN GIRLING

Swansea University Author: BETHAN GIRLING

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUThesis.71967

Abstract

This thesis investigates Additive Manufactured (AM) Stainless Steel (SS) 316L parts using detailed experimentation and optical microscopy. Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) is a process of manufacturing parts by building them up layer by layer. Selective Laser Melting (SLM), which is the method inv...

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Published: Swansea 2026
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Sienz, J.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71967
first_indexed 2026-05-21T11:31:06Z
last_indexed 2026-05-23T06:01:30Z
id cronfa71967
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2026-05-21T12:36:50.2120294 v2 71967 2026-05-21 Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts 41cc7814e10fda3662c063a29aba908c BETHAN GIRLING BETHAN GIRLING true false 2026-05-21 This thesis investigates Additive Manufactured (AM) Stainless Steel (SS) 316L parts using detailed experimentation and optical microscopy. Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) is a process of manufacturing parts by building them up layer by layer. Selective Laser Melting (SLM), which is the method investigated in this work, is a method by which consecutive thin layers of powder are melted by a laser in a pattern pre-defined by a CAD forming the cross section of a component. Although it’s a technology that is becoming mainstream in industry, there are still certain areas, which are not fully understood. The research here is aimed at finding out more on how built parts are affected by the process. This has been carried out by building a selection of parts using the same CAD designs but changing the parameters and powder used and subsequently measuring and testing these. Different laser powers, exposure times, laser patterns, layer rotations and heat treatment have been explored along with ‘virgin’ and ‘aged’ powder. A number of experimental tests including tensile, density and hardness were carried out, to investigate the variation seen in the properties of the manufactured AM parts due to the changing build parameters and due to powder reuse.These properties are then compared to conventional SS316L. In cases, parts with inadequate properties were found along with a majority more cases where parts with comparable properties to conventional SS316L were found. In addition to the properties of the parts, the microstructure has also been studied to see how this compares to conventional SS316L. It was found that parts produced by AM vary in microstructure and properties when compared to conventional SS316L. E-Thesis Swansea Additive Manufacturing, Stainless Steel 316L, Mechanical Properties, Microstructure 31 3 2026 2026-03-31 10.23889/SUThesis.71967 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Sienz, J. Doctoral Ph.D 2026-05-21T12:36:50.2120294 2026-05-21T12:26:30.1967089 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Aerospace Engineering BETHAN GIRLING 1 71967__36806__123c9aa43486459e88ee5f4eb8850cb7.pdf 2026_Girling_B.final.71967.pdf 2026-05-21T12:30:27.5652784 Output 17699148 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: the author, Bethan Hannah Girling, 2026. true eng
title Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
spellingShingle Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
BETHAN GIRLING
title_short Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
title_full Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
title_fullStr Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
title_full_unstemmed Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
title_sort Investigation into the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Stainless Steel 316L Additively Manufactured Parts
author_id_str_mv 41cc7814e10fda3662c063a29aba908c
author_id_fullname_str_mv 41cc7814e10fda3662c063a29aba908c_***_BETHAN GIRLING
author BETHAN GIRLING
author2 BETHAN GIRLING
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUThesis.71967
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Aerospace Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Aerospace Engineering
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This thesis investigates Additive Manufactured (AM) Stainless Steel (SS) 316L parts using detailed experimentation and optical microscopy. Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) is a process of manufacturing parts by building them up layer by layer. Selective Laser Melting (SLM), which is the method investigated in this work, is a method by which consecutive thin layers of powder are melted by a laser in a pattern pre-defined by a CAD forming the cross section of a component. Although it’s a technology that is becoming mainstream in industry, there are still certain areas, which are not fully understood. The research here is aimed at finding out more on how built parts are affected by the process. This has been carried out by building a selection of parts using the same CAD designs but changing the parameters and powder used and subsequently measuring and testing these. Different laser powers, exposure times, laser patterns, layer rotations and heat treatment have been explored along with ‘virgin’ and ‘aged’ powder. A number of experimental tests including tensile, density and hardness were carried out, to investigate the variation seen in the properties of the manufactured AM parts due to the changing build parameters and due to powder reuse.These properties are then compared to conventional SS316L. In cases, parts with inadequate properties were found along with a majority more cases where parts with comparable properties to conventional SS316L were found. In addition to the properties of the parts, the microstructure has also been studied to see how this compares to conventional SS316L. It was found that parts produced by AM vary in microstructure and properties when compared to conventional SS316L.
published_date 2026-03-31T06:25:38Z
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score 11.106612

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