Process Parameter Optimization for Selective Laser Melting of 316L Stainless Steel Material using Taguchi’s Statistical Design of Experiment Procedure

Abstract

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a type of additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology that makes use of a high-power laser beam to completely melt powder material layer upon layer which solidifies to form the desired part or component. In this experimental study, a careful selection of SLM process parameters (laser power, scan speed, hatching distance, and layer height) was done for the selective laser melting of 316L stainless steel powder material to produce samples with maximum density. A statistical procedure was carried out on the experimental data using the Taguchi's design of experimental technique to optimize the carefully selected process parameters. The obtained results were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio with the help of Minitab 18 statistical software to determine the optimal parameters and a regression model was also established. The regression model indicates a linear relationship between relative density and the process parameters. Density value higher than 95% was obtained from this experimental study.