The Use of Selective Laser Melting to Increase the Performance of AlSi₉Cu₃Fe Alloy.

Michaela Fousova,Dalibor Vojtech,Marek Vronka,Drahomir Dvorsky,Pavel Lejcek

doi:10.3390/ma11101918

Abstract

For the first time, the comprehensive characterization of the additively manufactured AlSi9Cu3Fe alloy is reported in this paper. Conventionally, the AlSi9Cu3(Fe) alloy is prepared by high-pressure die casting (HPDC), but this technology largely does not offer such opportunities as additive manufacturing (AM) does, especially in the design of new lightweight parts. In the present paper, testing samples were prepared by selective laser melting (SLM), one of the AM technologies, and characterized in terms of their microstructure (by means of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy in combination with analytical techniques for evaluation of chemical and phase composition) and mechanical properties (static tension, compression, and hardness). All the characteristics were compared with the HPDC reference material. Our study showed an excellent improvement both in strength (374 ± 11 MPa compared to 257 ± 17 MPa) and plasticity (1.9 ± 0.2% compared to 1.2 ± 0.5%) of the material thanks to its very fine and distinctive microstructure.

Highlights

In the last decades, the industry looks for new, sophisticated technologies with the intention of making technological progress, and reducing production costs
As with other metallic materials prepared by selective laser melting (SLM), the microstructure of the AlSi9 Cu3 Fe alloy
In the first magnification range, the additively manufactured with other metallic materials prepared to by the SLM,principle the microstructure of the AlSi9Cu3Fe alloysuccessive characteristic As macrostructure, which is related of its manufacture—the hierarchical heterogeneity, with length The scaleslaser spanning nearly orders ofacross magnitude melting ofalso theshows powder material by the laser beam

Summary

Introduction

The industry looks for new, sophisticated technologies with the intention of making technological progress, and reducing production costs. In the aerospace and automotive industries, all these requirements have led to the development of lightweight materials and structures. Traditional manufacturing processes, such as casting, forging, extrusion, or powder metallurgy, are not able to satisfy the current trend in manufacture, which aims at new customized products of high quality, acceptable cost, repeatability and reliability, and their quick delivery to customers. They require specific tooling, consist of multiple steps and often have to be followed by post-fabrication machining, which increases both costs and production time [2].

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