Residual-Stress Formation and Mitigation in the LPBF-Manufactured AISI 316L Stainless Steel: A Review of Processing Strategies and Heat-Treatment Approaches
KONONENKO G.A.$^{1,2,3}$, RAMASAMY P.$^{4,5}$, ADJAMSKY S.V.$^{1,6}$, ECKERT J.$^{4,5}$, PODOLSKYI R.V.$^{1,2,7}$, PODOLSKA O.A.$^{2}$, and BADUK S.I.$^{1,7}$
$^1$LLC ‘Additive Laser Technologies of Ukraine’, 105, Nebesnoi Sotni Ave., UA-65104 Odesa, Ukraine
$^2$Iron and Steel Institute of Z.I. Nekrasov of the N.A.S. of Ukraine, 1, Academician Starodubov Sq., UA-49107 Dnipro, Ukraine
$^3$National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Dnipro Polytechnic’, 19, Dmytro Yavornytskyi Ave., UA-49005 Dnipro, Ukraine
$^4$Erich Schmid Institute of Materials Science of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 12, Jahnstraße, 8700 Leoben, Austria
$^5$Montanuniversität Leoben, 12, Roseggerstraße, 8700 Leoben, Austria
$^6$Institute of Transport Systems and Technologies of the N.A.S. of Ukraine, 5, Pisarzhevskoho Str., UA-49000 Dnipro, Ukraine
$^7$Institute of Applied Control Systems of the N.A.S. of Ukraine, 40, Academician Hlushkov Ave., UA-03187 Kyiv, Ukraine
Received / final version: 25.02.2026 / 28.07.2026
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Abstract
Additive manufacturing of metal products using the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology offers broad opportunities to produce parts with complex geometry from steels and alloys. At the same time, high temperature gradients and ultra-high cooling rates characteristic of LPBF lead to intensive formation of residual internal stresses, which negatively affect the geometric stability, mechanical properties, and operational reliability of products. The work provides a comprehensive review of recent national and international research on the mechanisms of residual-stresses’ formation and mitigation in parts made of AISI 316L steel fabricated by means of the LPBF technology. Using network bibliographic analysis (VOSviewer) with the OpenAlex database and clustering by stacking (Gephi), key scientific directions, process parameters, and scanning strategies, which influence the stress–strain state of products decisively, are systematised. The roles of the geometry of the parts, the layer thickness, the laser energy density, the orientation, and size of the scanning fields in the formation of macro- and microstresses are analysed. Special attention is paid to the analysis of regulatory and technical documentation and to the heat-treatment modes of AISI 316L steel and its analogues, as well as to the generalisation of global experience in the application of thermal methods for relieving internal stresses for the LPBF products. As shown, heat treatment is the most effective tool for achieving a favourable level and distribution of residual stresses, while maintaining the required set of mechanical properties. The results obtained can be used to substantiate the rational parameters of the LPBF process and post-processing of AISI 316L steel parts for critical engineering applications.
Keywords: 316L steel, laser powder bed fusion, residual stresses, heat treatment, technological parameters.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/ufm.27.03.***
Citation: G.A. Kononenko, P. Ramasamy, S.V. Adjamsky, J. Eckert, R.V. Podolskyi, O.A. Podolska, and S.I. Baduk, Residual-Stress Formation and Mitigation in the LPBF-Manufactured AISI 316L Stainless Steel: A Review of Processing Strategies and Heat-Treatment Approaches, Progress in Physics of Metals, 27, No. 3: ***–*** (2026)