Evaluation of fatigue performance of additively manufactured SS316 via internal damping

Additively manufactured (AM) specimens made of stainless steel 316 are tested using the impulse excitation technique (IET) and their damping characteristics are correlated to fatigue life. Results reveal that the damping value is inversely proportional to the fatigue life of the specimens. It is also shown that the procedure enables one to determine the onset of crack initiation and thus provides a viable approach for monitoring the integrity of AM parts.