Deformation mechanisms of selective laser melted 316L austenitic stainless steel in high temperature low cycle fatigue

To investigate the low cycle fatigue (LCF) properties of SLM (Selective laser melting) 316L at 550 °C high temperature, a series of LCF tests at different strain amplitudes is conducted on SLM 316L and traditional 316L. In contrast to the cyclic hardening behavior of traditional 316L, SLM 316L is shown to have a stable cyclic softening behavior and higher fatigue life due to its higher strength (yield strength is 1.9 times of traditional 316L). The coarsening of cellular sub-structure, evolution of geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) and texture direction contribute to the cyclic softening behavior of SLM 316L. Fractographic observations illustrate that strain amplitude has a significant influence on initiation and propagation of transgranular fatigue cracks, and lack-of-fusion defects near the surface are key initiation sites of fatigue cracks. Additionally, the life prediction method of the non-Masing model is suitable for SLM 316L.