316L stainless steel is widely used in various fields due to its excellent properties. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) can be employed to produce more complex and superior 316L stainless steel and its reinforcing materials. In this study, the effects of TC4 addition on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of 316L stainless steel fabricated via laser powder bed fusion were examined. Four compositions containing 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 wt% TC4 were prepared. This work indicates that TC4 leads to a significant refinement of the material's microstructure's grains, which is mainly due to the Ti-rich solute promoting the non-uniform nucleation of phases at the melt pool boundary. The yield strength was increased to 638 MPa, and the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) reached 830 MPa. Furthermore, the uniform distribution of the Cr element within the matrix, combined with the grain refinement effect, contributes to the enhanced corrosion resistance of the sample.
Ma et al. (2026) studied this question.