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Selective laser melting (SLM) is a commonly used additive manufacturing technique for 316L stainless steel. In this study, the process parameters of 316L stainless steels fabricated by SLM method on surface quality and mechanical performance were investigated. The SLM method parameters and energy density significantly affect the mechanical performance and surface quality. Laser power and real spot size were kept constant at 370 W and 0.12 mm, respectively. The effect of different scanning speeds (900–1100–1300 mm/s), layer thicknesses (0.04–0.05–0.06 mm) and scanning gaps (0.09–0.1–0.11 mm) were analyzed. The increase in scanning speed affected the surface quality negatively. The highest mechanical performance was obtained at the laser power 370 W, scanning speed 1100 mm/s, layer thickness 0.04 mm, scanning gap (space) 0.1 mm, real spot 0.12 mm, overlap ratio 0.833 % and energy density 84.09 J/mm3. As a result of the study, it was observed that the mechanical performances were improved by increasing the input energy density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]