Surface Properties Modification of SS316L Using Plasma Beam Remelting (PBR) and Its Applications in Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufactured part poses poor surface finish and anisotropy of mechanical properties. In this paper, plasma beam remelting (PBR) was attempted for altering surface properties of SS316L. Plasma beam remelting helped in the improvement of mechanical properties and surface finish of the substrate. The experiments revealed the relationship between plasma energy supplied per unit length and the surface roughness of remelted samples. Plasma beam remelting was seen as an effective technique for altering the microstructure and subsequently micro-hardness up to a few 100-μ level. An improvement of up to 60% in the surface finish and 75% in the micro-hardness of the top layer was obtained by an optimum single-pass PBR. A significant grain refinement was also observed up to sub-micron level. These initial results confirm the suitability of PBR process as an effective post-processing technique for additively manufactured components.