Abrasive Surface Finishing on SLM 316L Parts Fabricated with Recycled Powder

Abstract

Improving the surface roughness quality of 3D printed components, especially metallic ones, which are fabricated from the selective laser melting (SLM) method, has drawn enormous attention from the research community. It should be noted that various studies on this topic have reported that precise surface roughness results can be obtained with various techniques that are indeed not cost-effective. Differing itself from these studies, this manuscript investigates an economical solution for fabricating and surface treating SLM components. Specifically, the inspected specimens were printed with recycled 316L stainless steel powder and treated solely with two abrasive surface finishing methods. In the manuscript, two scanning strategies namely meander and stripes, and three types of surfaces were investigated. Subsequently, their 2D and 3D surface roughness results were elaborated. After the proposed herein abrasive treatment, 3D surface roughness arithmetical mean height of a surface (Sa) value of 0.9 µm can be achieved.

Restoration and Possible Upgrade of a Historical Motorcycle Part Using Powder Bed Fusion

“…Remarkably, one can see that the bottom side of the braking pedal was with rough and pointy finishing, remaining after the support removal. To obtain a better bottom surface finishing, it should be additionally ground with sandpaper, grinder, or more thoroughly by combining the two methods with tumbling [26]. Figure 17 depicts the first solid pedal after surface finishing to demonstrate the possible surface roughness improvement.…”

“…The droplet in the bottom surface of the rod section can be eliminated by grinding. In addition, it is possible to obtain a smoother and shiny overall surface by the tumbling process described in [26].…”

Minimization Method for 3D Surface Roughness Evaluation Area

“…Most of the studies analyze only a single or a few roughness parameters or the topography diagram without analyzing a set of parameters in a complex manner. There are, however, experimental studies with well-founded design serve as the basis of complex analyses and can provide information about the sensitivity of the cutting data on the roughness parameter values [18,19].…”

“…Several studies have recently been published in which 3D surface roughness measurement was the focus of the analysis. It has been applied for various machining procedures such as hard turning [20], turning [21], abrasive waterjet cutting (AWC) [22,23], diamond turning [24], shot peening [18], micro milling [25], selective laser melting (SLM) [19,26], or electrical discharge machining (EDM) [27]. There are studies that focus on the effect of process parameters [18,19] or cutting data [21,25] on the surface roughness.…”

“…It has been applied for various machining procedures such as hard turning [20], turning [21], abrasive waterjet cutting (AWC) [22,23], diamond turning [24], shot peening [18], micro milling [25], selective laser melting (SLM) [19,26], or electrical discharge machining (EDM) [27]. There are studies that focus on the effect of process parameters [18,19] or cutting data [21,25] on the surface roughness. At the same time, 3D roughness parameters or studies can be applicable for wear prediction [12] or cutting insert selection [28], or in analyzing surface erosion processes [10].…”