Strength, microhardness, and microstructure analysis of 316L stainless steel manufactured via hybrid laser wire and laser powder bed additive

Additive manufacturing techniques including laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and laser wire direct energy deposition (LWDED) can be integrated into a hybrid additive manufacturing (AM) process. Combining LWDED with LPBF leverages their complementary strengths to achieve optimized part geometries and properties, as well as making it possible to repair LPBF parts using LWDED. In this study, LWDED 316L SS blocks were deposited onto both LPBF 316L SS and conventional cold-rolled and annealed (CRA) 316L SS substrates to investigate the resulting microstructure and properties when these techniques are combined. Mechanical properties, including microhardness and tensile strength, were compared with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) characterization of the microstructure. The tensile strength of the hybrid AM LPBF-LWDED (σ y = 338 MPa) was…