Numerical and experimental investigation into the subsequent thermal cycling during selective laser melting of multi-layer 316L stainless steel

Subsequent thermal cycling (STC), as the unique thermal behavior during the multi-layer manufacturing process of selective laser melting (SLM), brings about unique microstructure of the as-produced parts. A multi-layer finite element (FE) model was proposed to study the STC along with a contrast experiment. The FE simulational results show that as layer increases, the maximum temperature, dimensions and liquid lifetime of the molten pool increase, while the heating and cooling rates decrease. The maximum temperature point shifts into the molten pool, and central of molten pool shifts backward. The neighborly underlying layer can be remelted thoroughly when laser irradiates a powder layer, thus forming an excellent bonding between neighbor layers. The contrast experimental results between the single-layer and triple-layer samples show that grains in of latter become coarsen and tabular along the height direction compared with those of the former. Moreover, this effect become more serious in 2nd and 1st layers in the triple-layer sample. All the above illustrate that the STC has an significant influence on the thermal behavior during SLM process, and thus affects the microstructure of SLMed parts.