Uniformity Labs’ Stainless Steel Powders Deliver Improved Mechanical Properties

Uniformity Labs’ ultra-low porosity 316L and 17-4 PH stainless steel powders are a high throughput feedstock that were developed to deliver improved mechanical properties at much higher throughput in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM).

According to the company, these ultra-low porosity powders exhibit tap densities of up to 85% and melt to produce parts averaging over 99.95% density. Uniformity HPS parameters for 316L and 17-4 PH stainless steel at 50 µm and 60 µm layer thickness, respectively, are said to achieve production build rates up to 2-3 times faster for typical complex geometry additive parts. This speed increase is in comparison to other high-speed comparable layer thickness builds conducted on the same printers with standard powders and comparable finished part density.

The higher bed and tap densities are said to enable the powders to deliver improved mechanical properties — even at high-speed build rates and thicker layer printing.

The 316L powder is an austenitic stainless steel which the company says is well suited for demanding environments and applications, such as parts exposed to marine, pharmaceutical or petrochemical processing, food preparation equipment, medical devices, surgical tooling and consumer products such as jewelry. It is known for its corrosion resistance, high flexibility and excellent mechanical properties at extreme temperatures.

The 17-4 PH powder is martensitic precipitation-hardened stainless steel. It’s known for its corrosion resistance and high strength and hardness levels, especially when heat treated. 17-4 PH can be heat treated to a variety of hardness and toughness levels, enabling users to customize the post-sintering properties of the alloy to suit a variety of applications, such as chemical processing, manufacturing machinery and food processing.