This paper aims to investigate the unique substructure and grain growth of 316L stainless steel processed by selective laser melting (SLM) and clarify the mechanism. Results showed that the grain orientation on the x-z plane parallel to the build direction was the same type as the y-z plane, which all grow along the heat flow direction to form elongated columnar grains passing through the multi-layer fusion line. The epitaxial growth direction of grains changed abruptly with the vary of temperature gradient direction. Moreover, to expound the substructure formation based on solidification theory, a finite element model was established to obtain the distribution map of cooling rate G × R and solidified morphology G/R.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.