Abstract
Aluminum–Lithium (Al–Li) alloy is a topic of great interest owing to its high strength and light weight, but there are only a few applications of Al–Li alloy in wire + arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process. To identify its feasibility in WAAM process, a special AA2050 Al–Li alloy wire was produced and employed in the production of straight-walled components, using a WAAM system based on variable polarity gas tungsten arc welding (VP-GTAW) process. The influence of post-deposited heat treatment on the microstructure and property of the deposit was investigated using optical micrographs (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), hardness and tensile properties tests. Results revealed that the microstructures of AA2050 aluminum deposits varied with their location layers. The upper layers consisted of fine equiaxed grains, while the bottom layer exhibited a coarse columnar structure. Mechanical properties witnessed a significant improvement after post-deposited heat treatment, with the average micro-hardness reaching 141HV and the ultimate tensile strength exceeding 400 MPa. Fracture morphology exhibited a typical ductile fracture.
Highlights
Nowadays, the requirement for lightweight alloy in the aerospace and highspeed train industries is increasing
The strength of Aluminum–Lithium alloy is comparable to 2024 aluminum alloy, while the density of Al–Li alloy is much lower [1]
Additive manufacturing (AM) that produces components layer-by-layer according to a digital model, is a
Summary
The requirement for lightweight alloy in the aerospace and highspeed train industries is increasing. *Correspondence: congbq@buaa.edu.cn 1 School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article new paradigm for designing and building intricate parts widely used in the aerospace industry [3]. Bai et al [16] built a thin wall with ER4043 Al–Si wire using TIG-WAAM and analyzed the microstructure and property of the deposit.
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