Abstract
Laser metal deposition (LMD) is an innovative
manufacturing technique that uses laser to melt powders to
fabricate fully dense components layer by layer. It is capable of
processing different metallic powders and can also be used for
consolidating different powder to produce custom alloys or
functionally graded materials (FGM). The properties of laser
processed materials is dependent on the final microstructure of
the parts which in turn is dependent on the LMD processing
parameters. This study investigates the effects of laser power
on the structural integrity, microstructure and microhardness
of laser deposited 316L stainless steel. The result showed that
the laser power has much influence on the evolving
microstructure and microhardness of the components. The
average microhardness of the samples were observed to
decrease as the laser power increased due to grain coarsening.