On stereological analysis of grain boundary character distribution in post-annealed LPBF 316L stainless steel

• Published in: Materials letters Vol. 395; p. 138730
• Main Authors: Pradhan, S.K., Belyakov, A., Satapathy, D.K., Tripathy, Snehashish, Sahoo, B.K., Ghosh Chowdhury, Sandip
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.09.2025
• Subjects: 316L stainless steel; Grain boundary character; Laser powder bed fusion; Stereological analysis; Laser powder bed fusion; Grain boundary character; 316L stainless steel; Stereological analysis
• ISSN: 0167-577X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2025.138730

•As-built sample comprised of semi-columnar grains with high fraction of LAGBs.•Equiaxed grains with large number of Σ3 and Σ9 boundaries evolved during annealing.•Twist natured Σ3 & Symmetric tilt nature of Σ9 boundaries stereologically unveiled. Influence of post-printing annealing treatment on the grain boundary character distribution of the laser powder bed fusion processed 316L stainless steel has been studied through five-parameter stereological analysis. As-built microstructure comprised of the semi-columnar grains along with large fraction of low angle grain boundary: most of the boundary planes terminated at {100}. In contrast, strain free equiaxed grains which evolved post-annealing were associated with large population of Σ3 and Σ9 boundaries. The Σ3 boundaries are mostly coherent annealing twin boundary with {111}//{111} twist character, while the Σ9 boundaries are symmetric tilt in nature with {114}//{114} orientation.