Aluminum–Alumina Composites: Part Ⅰ: Obtaining and Characterization of Powders

Gromov Gromov,Vlaskin Vlaskin,Zhuk Zhuk,Osipenkova Osipenkova,Kislenko Kislenko,Arnautov Arnautov,Ambaryan Ambaryan,Slyusarskiy Slyusarskiy,Nalivaiko Nalivaiko,Buryakovskaya Buryakovskaya,Shkolnikov Shkolnikov

doi:10.3390/ma12193180

Gromov Gromov, Vlaskin Vlaskin + Show 9 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12193180

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Abstract

The process of advanced aluminum-alumina powders production for selective laser melting was studied. The economically effective method of obtaining aluminum-alumina powdery composites for further selective laser melting was comprehensively studied. The aluminum powders with 10–20 wt. % alumina content were obtained by oxidation of aluminum in water. Aluminum oxidation was carried out at ≤200 °C. The oxidized powders were further dried at 120 °C and calcined at 600 °C. Four oxidation modes with different process temperatures (120–200 °C) and pressures (0.15–1.80 MPa) were investigated. Parameters of aluminum powders oxidation to obtain composites with 10.0, 14.5, 17.4, and 20.0 wt. % alumina have been determined. The alumina content, particle morphology, and particle size distribution for the obtained aluminum-alumina powdery composites were studied by XRD, SEM, laser diffraction, and volumetric methods. According to the obtained characteristics of aluminum-alumina powdery composites, they are suitable for the SLM process.

Highlights

Selective laser melting (SLM) for 3D metal object production is a rapidly developing field of science and technology. 3D printing of aluminum alloys and aluminum matrix composites (AMC) is pretending to become the leading technology for the production of complex shape details for aerospace and automotive engineering [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].The SLM process parameters have a decisive influence on the 3D object characteristics [8,9,10,11]
The method of obtaining aluminum-alumina powdery composites for their subsequent sintering by selective laser melting has been studied
Initial micron-sized aluminum powders were oxidized in water at 120–200 ◦ C and 0.15–1.8 MPa pressure

Summary

Introduction

Selective laser melting (SLM) for 3D metal object production is a rapidly developing field of science and technology. 3D printing of aluminum alloys and aluminum matrix composites (AMC) is pretending to become the leading technology for the production of complex shape details for aerospace and automotive engineering [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].The SLM process parameters (laser power, scanning speed, powder feeding rate, etc.) have a decisive influence on the 3D object characteristics [8,9,10,11]. The properties of aluminum-based alloys are well suited to produce complex shape objects of high strength and density by SLM processes [14]. The powders with spherical particles having a narrow size distribution is the best initial material to obtain 3D objects with high quality by SLM. This provides a compact packaging of particles in a melted layer and a stable feeding rate of the powder. Aluminum powders with a particle size from 30 to 100 μm are typically used for 3D printing by the SLM process [15,16]

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