Uniformity Labs Ultra-Low Porosity UniFuse™ 316L 90um Stainless Steel Powder Delivers Improved Mechanical Properties at Much Higher Throughput for Laser Powder Bed Fusion

FREMONT, Calif./ Dec. 15, 2022 — Uniformity Labs announced the availability of its UniFuse™ 316L ultra-low porosity stainless steel powder. The UniFuse™ 316L powder and optimized print processes have been used to create various parts in various industries with great success.

Developed by an in-house team of world-leading materials scientists and 3D printing innovators, Uniformity Labs UniFuse™ 316L 90um 400W Performance mechanical properties are superior in UTS, YS, elongation, and density compared to industry standard lower layer thickness parameter sets. Uniformity Labs UniFuse™ 316L ultra-low porosity powder and High-Performance Scanning (HPS) achieve an approximately 3X faster build time when compared to the competitor’s lower layer thickness scan strategies targeting best-in-class mechanical properties. This throughput improvement is typical for UniFuse™ 316L builds. Compared to similar layer thickness builds, Uniformity Labs UniFuse™ 316L and HPS achieve far superior mechanical properties and build uniformity across the build platform with significantly increased throughput.

Higher bed and tap densities enable Uniformity powders to deliver improved mechanical properties and consistent performance across the build bed, even at high-speed build rates and thicker layer printing.

316L is an austenitic stainless steel that is perfect 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 application of Uniformity 316L 90um stainless steel delivers mechanical excellence for our customers who require materials that perform to the highest standard in extreme conditions,” said Uniformity founder and CEO Adam Hopkins. “Our powders deliver superior mechanical properties, surface finish, printing yield, and part reliability, and allow one machine to do the work of several.”

In addition to materials already available, the Uniformity team is continually developing new materials and processes to make 3D printing accessible to all industries and applications.

SS 316L Mechanical and Density Information

At a glance, mechanical and density properties listed below

• 90um layer thickness
• Up to three times the throughput @ 99.9%+ density (density coupons average 99.95%)
• Ultimate Tensile Strength (R_m z) – 675 ± 7 MPa
• Ultimate Tensile Strength (R_m xy) – 739 ± 7 MPa
• Yield Strength (R_m z) – 528 ± 8 Mpa
• Yield Strength (R_m xy) – 600 ± 7 MPa
• Fracture Elongation (R_m z) – 49.4 ± 2.2 %
• Fracture Elongation (R_m xy) – 53.5 ± 2.7 %
• Surface roughness in z direction (um) 11.2 ± 1.8