Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of 316 L Stainless Steel Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion: A Comparative Study on Test Temperature

Abstract

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is becoming more popular and widely acceptable class of the additive manufacturing processes for metallic objects. The impact of test temperatures, sliding speed, and loading conditions on the wear behavior of LPBF generated 316 L stainless steel is investigated in this work. The findings revealed that the effect of all the three wear test conditions was significant on the coefficient of friction (COF) and wear rate of additive samples. The COF and wear rate were found to be reduced at 400 °C in all samples when compared to room temperature, which was attributed to oxidation of the exposed surface, which serves as a lubricant and shields the surface from additional material loss. Moreover, the wear rate and CoF were found to increase with the increasing normal load and reducing sliding speed.