Mechanical Performance of Selective Laser Melted 17-4 PH Stainless Steel Under Compressive Loading

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a powder-bed type Additive Manufacturing (AM) process, where metal powder melting is followed by rapid solidification to yield metallic components. The mechanical performance of the components is greatly influenced by various SLM process parameters such as laser power, scan speed, scan pattern, hatch distance, build orientation, layer thickness and defocus distance. Studies on compressive properties of stainless steel parts by SLM have received relatively little attention. In this study, an investigation was conducted to assess the influence of laser power, build orientation, layer thickness and laser defocus distance on the mechanical behaviour of selective laser melted 17-4 PH stainless steel parts under quasi-static compression. Fractional factorial design was used to optimise the four process parameters to obtain maximum hardness and compressive strength with least porosity. Results are supported by studies on porosity and microstructure observations.Mechanical Engineerin