Weldability study of additive manufactured 316L austenitic stainless steel components—welding of AM with conventional 316L components

Additive manufacturing (AM) using PBF (powder bed fusion) is widely applied in industry with many advantages but also some drawbacks such as productivity rates and limited dimensions. Future implementations of AM will require a re-design of components in order to reserve AM for the particular complex geometries, to join AM subassemblies or to connect with conventional components. It brings the aspect of weldability of AM parts in the picture. This study is investigating the weldability of AM 316L components using common welding processes such as manual GTAW. Bead-on-plate tests were started as a first step to examine weldability. After satisfactory results, two AM pipe components were fabricated (PBF) in the same built to be welded to conventional 316L parts. One AM pipe component was used to characterize the mechanical properties while the other test coupon was welded to conventional pipe by manual GTAW. The test welds were submitted to a mechanical and corrosion testing program including creep rupture testing. It was decided to start the weldability analysis in the worst condition, i.e., As Build/As Welded (AB/AW) without any heat treatment nor post-processing. Based upon the results obtained for the conditions tested, it could be concluded that AM (PBF) components are weldable.