Evaluation of Functionally Graded Lattice Properties of Laser Powder Bed Fused Stainless Steel 316L

The development of metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques, in particular the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, has led to an increase in the innovative design and fabrication of lightweight and complex porous metal structures. Despite the limitations of the LPBF process which limits the geometric accuracy of the porous structures, it eliminates the difficulties presented by conventional manufacturing techniques in the fabrication of highly complex structures. The properties of as-built porous structures depend on the unit cell design and porosity level. These lightweight metal structures have applications in medical and aerospace fields. The relationships between the lattice geometry and performance must be determined to successfully implement the functional lattice designs. In this study, functionally graded lattice structures are fabricated from steel using SLM technique and the effect of different lattice types on the manufacturability, density and mechanical properties are investigated.