Effect of constraint on the fracture property of AlSi10Mg manufactured by selective laser melting

Abstract

Selective laser melting (SLM) is widely used in the fabrication of pressure vessels and piping, aerospace, and biomedical devices. The fracture assessment of components with different constraint levels manufactured by SLM is critical for the safety of engineering applications. This paper aims to better understand the effect of constraint on the fracture behavior of SLMed AlSi10Mg alloy. Fracture toughness tests were conducted on specimens with varying crack depth and specimen thickness. The results show that the fracture toughness Jc decreases with increasing crack depth and specimen thickness. The constraint level of each specimen was characterized by the constraint parameter ϕ. The unified correlation line of normalized fracture toughness Jc/Jref with ϕ was obtained, which can be used to evaluate the fracture property of components with arbitrary constraint levels.