Thermal Environment and Inclination Angle Dependencies on the Surface Quality of Selective Laser Melted 316L Steel

Additive manufacturing processes offer the ability to manufacture highly complex geometries, but are limited in terms of the achievable surface quality. These limitations are based on physical restrictions, especially the need of support and the powder-bed environment, and economic decisions. In this study, the development of the morphology of surfaces with varying inclination angles was investigated on the example of 316L stainless steel. Surfaces with low inclination angles to the manufacturing plane suffered extensively from the process related staircase effect, whereas perpendicular side faces revealed high dependencies on the interaction with the powder-bed.