re: Decade old on this, but 3D printing is amazing

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3D printing of metal is incredible, but an often overlooked aspect by hobbyists is that the finish isn't good enough for sealing or mating surfaces. In nearly all cases there is still required machining on the prints for usable parts. For very complex, one off parts it is viable, but it has yet to replace castings for mass produced parts because of cost.

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The next big hurdle to overcome with metal printing is strength. Anyone who has taken a materials course learns that the strength of steel and other metals are gained by hot or cold working the steel to align the grain structure.

With interest in learning how strong is 3D metal printing the first link that popped up was this YT LINK.

Here is the summary of testing these clips to failure. The weakest was PLA, then Aluminum and then Stainless Steel.

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I would have expected the stainless steel to be MUCH stronger than Aluminum. The stainless steel used in 3D printing is stainless with the "L" designations indicating low carbon content. That is, it is weldable The low carbon content stainless will not rust after welding, via laser welding in 3D printing.

The tensile strength of ANSI 316L stainless is 74700 psi. About the same for 304L.

The tensile strength of Aluminum varies by grade but it is generally around 42,000 psi.

Under normal circumstances you would expect the stainless steel to be almost twice as strong as aluminum. However it appears that 3D printed stainless steels is only slightly stronger than aluminum due to the lack of aligned grain structure.