Study on microstructure and tensile properties of 316L stainless steel fabricated by CMT wire and arc additive manufacturing

An austenitic stainless steel 316L part was fabricated by cold metal transfer wire and arc additive manufacturing (CMT-WAAM), and its microstructure, microhardness and tensile properties were investigated. Results showed that the as-built 316L part exhibited a multilayered structure along the building direction. In the transverse direction (perpendicular to scanning direction) of each layer, there was also a multilayered structure of alternating overlapping zone (OA) and re-melting zone (RA). Compared with the OA, the RA had higher ferrite content, smaller austenite dendrite size, more dispersed orientation and lower residual stress. The overall multilayered structure and the intra-layer non-equilibrium microstructure exhibit a great influence on the mechanical properties of as-built 316L part. Along the building and transverse direction, the microhardness distribution in the OA was uniform, while the RA showed a trend of lower hardness in the middle and higher hardness on both sides of the RA layer. The effect of multilayered structure on tensile properties was stronger in the transverse direction than that in the building direction. The deformation feature was obviously inconsistent between the OA and RA. Local necking and fracture always occurred in the OA. Microvoids trended to initiate at silicate impurity particles, grow into large cracks, and finally lead to material failure during tension.