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Material extrusion-based fabrication of 316L stainless steel: analysis of debinding and sintering, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance

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Abstract

3D printing has the unique advantages of personalized customization and machining of pure metal parts. However, high equipment cost of laser 3D printing to prepare pure metal parts has limited the wide application of metal 3D printing. Combination of material extrusion (MEX) with debinding and sintering leads to a low-cost process of creating solid metal parts. In this study, filament filled with 316 L stainless steel (316LSS) powder at 91 wt% is used to fabricate full metal parts. The 3D printing, debinding, and sintering process are thoroughly investigated, and the parameters are optimized with respect to the properties of the part. A two-step debinding process is performed especially to obtain full metal parts. Cyclohexane debinding is optimized to create an interconnected network to ensure the full release of the binder. Thermal-debinding process is optimized based on thermogravimetric analysis. Physicochemical characterization of the parts is then performed. After processing, parts show the highest density, microhardness, and tensile strength of 94.23%, 131.36 HV, and 343 MPa, which are comparable to the average level of previous reports. The reported process technique in this study opens the way to create intricate-shaped 316LSS parts for complex bionic structures, functional integration, lightweight, shape cooling, prototype spare parts, and biological implants, making it a new choice to manufacture metal parts for engineering applications.

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Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant Nos. 52175374, 51805014, and 51905531].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Materials and Manufacturing, Institute of Laser Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Chengyu Zhang, Yanping Yuan, Chengkun Shi & Jimin Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Trans-Scale Laser Manufacturing Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Chengyu Zhang, Yanping Yuan, Chengkun Shi & Jimin Chen

  3. Beijing Engineering Research Center of 3D Printing for Digital Medical Health, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Chengyu Zhang, Yanping Yuan, Chengkun Shi & Jimin Chen

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  1. Chengyu Zhang
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  2. Yanping Yuan
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Contributions

Chengyu Zhang: conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, writing—original draft; Yanping Yuan: data curation, writing—original draft, funding acquisition; Chengkun Shi: visualization, investigation; Jimin Chen: resources, supervision.

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Correspondence to Yanping Yuan or Jimin Chen.

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Zhang, C., Yuan, Y., Shi, C. et al. Material extrusion-based fabrication of 316L stainless steel: analysis of debinding and sintering, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 129, 587–599 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12309-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12309-w

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