Influences of Pulse Shaping on Single-Track Clad of AISI316L Stainless Steel by Laser Material Deposition

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper presents a series of results related to laser additive manufacturing using five types of laser shape.

The authors can consider the following aspects:

- The research methodology is not very clear and needs to be improved;

- It is necessary to present a real image for the laser material deposition (LMD) system;

- Section 3.1 should be part of Section 2;

- Figures 5 and 6 respectively have an inadequate resolution;

- It is necessary to present macroscopic images of the obtained samples;

- The interpretation of the microstructure of the material must be explained much better;

- Microstructures must be presented using the same scale;

- The discussion part needs to be significantly developed in order to highlight the contributions made by research in relation to other research in the field;

- the conclusions should be more concrete and include the practical applications of the results obtained;

- At the end of the conclusions, the future research directions should be specified.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

1. In line 37, decipher the abbreviation LAM.
2. Specify the values of all process parameters during the experiments (the scanning speed, powder feed rate, etc.).
3. It is recommended to add a photo of the experimental setup and the samples obtained.
4. In the caption to Figure 5, explain that the figures show the values of the average grain size.
5. How are you planning to continue this work? For example, to conduct the same research for several layers. Or use the obtained results to validate the mathematical model of the process. How the obtained results can be used in engineering practice?

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors have studied the influences of pulse shaping on single-track clad of AISI316L stainless steel by laser material deposition. The effects of pulse shaping on the geometry, microstructure evolution, and microhardness were investigated using continuous, rectangular, ramp up, ramp down, and hybrid ramp laser scans. The results obtained are good and presented well. Some minor modifications are needed to complement this paper.

1. The error bars in the measurement should be added in Fig. 6.
2. Additionally, the clarity of figures should be improved.
3. It would be better if the authors quantify the pore fraction according to the laser ramp used.
4. The hardness should be measured across the cross-section. Please modify the top middle bottom to the substrate, interface region, clad layer, etc.

Additionally, English should be improved.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf