In this study, miniaturized cruciform biaxial tensile specimens were optimized by finite element simulation software Ansys to vary five geometric parameters. The optimized specimens were utilized to characterize the biaxial tensile properties of 316L stainless steel fabricated through selective laser melting (SLM), with the two loading directions being vertical (X) and parallel (Y) to the building direction. It was discovered that at load ratios of 4:2 and 2:4, the yield strengths along X and Y orientations reached their respective maxima. By comparing the experimentally obtained yield loci against predictions by theoretical criteria including Mises, Hill48 and Hosford, it was found that the Hill48 anisotropic criterion corresponded most closely with the experimental results, while the other two criteria exhibited considerably larger deviations. Therefore, Hill48 was concluded to most accurately describe the yielding behaviors of SLM 316L under complex loading conditions.
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