Single-crystalline-like stainless steel 316L with different geometries fabricated by laser powder bed fusion

In this study, we explored the feasibility of fabricating single-crystalline or single-crystalline-like stainless steel 316L (SS316L) with different geometries (thin struts, cubes, walls and a simulated pump impeller) using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The LPBF-fabricated SS316L thin struts possessed a single-crystalline core featuring a 〈110〉 ∥ building direction (BD) crystallographic texture. The cubes, walls and the pump impeller preserved this 〈110〉 ∥ BD texture and also exhibited a well-defined single-crystalline-like {110}〈001〉 Goss texture. Cellular sub-grain structures with their primary dendrite arm spacing (PDAS) values smaller than 1 μm were discovered in all the samples with their growth directions showing a 45° angular deviation from the BD. Nanoscale precipitates and dislocations were also found in the cellular sub-grain structures of the thin struts. The mechanical properties of different geometries (the thin struts, the walls, and the simulated pump impeller) were studied and compared. The anisotropic mechanical responses of the walls and the simulated pump impeller were correlated with their crystallographic textures.