Mechanical behaviour, microstructure and texture studies of wire arc additive manufactured 304L stainless steel

Wire arc melting is considered one of the most efficient processes in additive manufacturing in terms of material printed to material consumed ratio. 304 stainless steel is one of the prominent stainless steels with superior corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. 304 stainless steel components were deposited by wire arc additive manufacturing, depositing subsequent layers in the same and perpendicular directions. Mechanical properties, microstructure, XRD and microtexture studies were done by EBSD have been done for both the conditions and compared. Mechanical properties were found to be similar for both the conditions whereas the microstructure and microtexture showed equiaxed grains for depositing in the same direction and columnar grains for deposition in the perpendicular direction.