Application of optimized laser surface re-melting process on selective laser melted 316L stainless steel inclined parts

Absract Lower surface quality of selective laser melting (SLM) manufactured parts remains to be a key shortcoming particularly for high performance functional components. In this paper, the authors utilized Box–Behnken methodology to explore the effect of laser surface re-melting process parameters. The process parameters are:laser power, laser exposure time, laser point distance, and shell layer thickness. The experiments were conducted using Renishaw AM-250 machine. SLM manufactured parts with inclination of 45˚ up-skin were treated with a given surface roughness using laser surface re-melting (LSR). The optimization of process parameters was conducted using response surface methodology and the validation tests was carried out utilizing the determined input parameters. The results verified the effectiveness of the integrated approach and the proposed statistical model. The outcomes of this study demonstrated that selective laser melting process followed by the laser surface re-melting process is very likely to become a fast and economic integrated method for improving the inclined surface quality of SLM manufactured parts.