Researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have now developed a way to 3D print stainless steel which triples the strength of the material.
In collaboration with engineers from Ames National Laboratory, Georgia Tech and Oregon State, the team was able to print a low-carbon kind of steel dubbed 316L which is strong enough to be used for military and marine applications.
The team said that the techniques used to print the steel resulted in improved strength and ductility in comparison to the traditional material. The engineers experimented with printing steel through different laser powders and thin plates of metal. As a result, the strength of the stainless steel tripled under certain conditions.