Investigation of the Mechanical Characteristics of Metal 3D Printing at Different Build Orientation and Directions

In this paper, metal 3D printing technology was used to investigate the effects of build orientation angles and direction on the mechanical characteristics of 316L stainless steel produced by the Bound Metal Deposition (BMD) process. Several orientation angles (0 deg, 45 deg, and 90 deg) of the test specimens were made for both horizontal and vertical build directions. The tensile testing apparatus was used on metal 3D-printed samples to determine their mechanical characteristics, such as Young's modulus, elongation at break, and ultimate strength. Brinell hardness tester was also used to compare the hardness of 3D-printed samples to the original native material. In addition, the porosity and microstructure of the printed samples were analyzed in this study. The findings of this investigation revealed how, in comparison to the original material, the mechanical properties of the metal 3D-printed material rely on the raster orientation and build type. The experimental results demonstrate that the 3D-printed parts using the BMD process have comparable ultimate tensile strength and elongation at break compared to the original material for 0 deg orientation and horizontal build direction. The elongation at break was found to depend strongly on the build direction for 45 deg and 90 deg printing orientation. Further, Young's modulus was found to be much lower than the original material using the BMD process.