3D Printing of 316L Stainless Steel Material Samples and Parts Using Fused Deposition Modeling Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Metallic lattices have been widely used in various applications such as lightweight structures, thermal management, and catalytic reactions due to their remarkable properties, which combine features of lattice structures such as high energy absorption, damping capacity, and low density, with metal attributes like high strength and toughness. Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) lattices are gaining increasing research interest due to their attractive characteristics and potential applications. However, there are limited processes available for producing these structures for metals. One such method is Selective Laser Melting (SLM), which, however, requires high capital and operating costs. A new, more affordable process for fabricating metallic parts is Metal Fused Deposition Modeling (Metal FDM). This method involves printing the part using an FDM printer and metal-binder filament, followed by debinding and sintering to obtain the final metallic part. The objective of this master’s Thesis is to fabricate SS316L TPMS lattices through Metal FDM using SS316L-binder filaments, assess the mechanical properties and microstructure of the fabricated lattices, and compare the mechanical properties of the lattices fabricated through Metal FDM with those fabricated through the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process. It was found that, although the SS316L TPMS lattices fabricated through Metal FDM showed overall acceptable mechanical properties under compression, when comparing the mechanical properties of sheet-based TPMS lattices fabricated through Metal FDM and SLM, the FDM lattices exhibited inferior properties. This may be attributed to defects in the lattices primarily generated during the printing stage, such as under and overfilling, voids, and incomplete welds between layers. Some of these defects resulted from suboptimal printing parameters, suggesting that better results could be achieved by selecting more suitable printing parameters.

Date of Award	3 May 2024
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Rashid Abu Al Rub (Supervisor)