Microstructure and compression performance of novel AlSi10Mg composite auxetic structures fabricated by additive manufacturing

Abstract

In order to further increase the mechanical properties of auxetic structures, a novel enhanced composite (NEC) auxetic structure was proposed and characterized by the combination of the enhanced re-entrant anti-trichiral and double arrow structures. The NEC structures were fabricated from AlSi10Mg powders through selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing technology. The grain morphology and microstructure characteristic of the AlSi10Mg sample were comprehensively analyzed. Results indicate that both columnar and equiaxed grains can be observed in the SLM-fabricated sample. Columnar grains with the size around 52 μm are mainly distributed in the melt pool and equiaxed grains exist at the boundary of the melt pool. The columnar grains are approximately perpendicular to the boundary of the melt pool and grow towards the center of the melt pool, exhibiting <100> filamentous texture. The melt pool boundaries can be divided into three distinct regions, i.e., coarse grain zone, fine grain zone, and heat affected zone. The microstructure of the as-built sample consists of elongate cellular α-Al matrix decorated with eutectic Si network boundaries. The mechanical properties and energy absorption performance are systematically investigated by means of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) verified by the experimental results. It is found that the elastic modulus, compression strength, Poisson's ration and energy absorption of the NEC structures are sensitive to the structure parameters. i.e., the compression stress and energy absorption present an increasing trend with the increasing of α, decreasing of l1 and β, while l1, α and β exhibit opposite effect on the Poisson's ratio. Moreover, the rotational combination of varied structures can lead to an excellent energy absorption capacity of the NEC structures, which is significantly higher than that of other auxetic structures. The results will provide guidance for the structure design of lightweight auxetic structures with enhanced performance and outstanding auxeticity.