Abstract
Ever-increasing demands of industrial manufacturing regarding mechanical properties require the development of novel alloys designed towards the respective manufacturing process. Here, we consider wire arc additive manufacturing. To this end, Al alloys with additions of Zn, Mg and Cu have been designed considering the requirements of good mechanical properties and limited hot cracking susceptibility. The samples were produced using the cold metal transfer pulse advanced (CMT-PADV) technique, known for its ability to produce lower porosity parts with smaller grain size. After material simulations to determine the optimal heat treatment, the samples were solution heat treated, quenched and aged to enhance their mechanical performance. Chemical analysis, mechanical properties and microstructure evolution were evaluated using optical light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis and X-ray radiography, as well as tensile, fatigue and hardness tests. The objective of this research was to evaluate in detail the mechanical properties and microstructure of the newly designed high-performance Al–Zn-based alloy before and after ageing heat treatment. The only defects found in the parts built under optimised conditions were small dispersed porosities, without any visible cracks or lack of fusion. Furthermore, the mechanical properties are superior to those of commercial 7xxx alloys and remarkably independent of the testing direction (parallel or perpendicular to the deposit beads). The presented analyses are very promising regarding additive manufacturing of high-strength aluminium alloys.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a manufacturing technology which has been evolving at an enormous rate in the last 30 years
It is noted that the geometric features of the wire arc additive manufacturing specimens were geometrically consistent during consecutive manufacturing of several samples, suggesting uniform deposition conditions with a high reproducibility
Wire arc additive manufacturing of the Al5–Mg3–Zn–Cu alloy resulted in a component with exceptionally high mechanical strength when compared to other Al alloys
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a manufacturing technology which has been evolving at an enormous rate in the last 30 years. Metallic parts produced by AM are susceptible to various defects, property degradation and compositional changes that need to be addressed [3]. Due to the high strength-to-weight ratio and ductility at room temperature, Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys are used in the automotive, aerospace, aircraft and competitive sport industries [4,5,6,7]. In these industries, new materials with enhanced mechanical properties are always needed to satisfy the ever-increasing demands for the weight reduction of structures and components.
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