Selective laser melting of Al-12Si

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a powder-based additive manufacturing technique consisting of the exact reproduction of a three dimensional computer model (generally a computer-aided design CAD file or a computer tomography CT scan) through an additive layer-by-layer strategy. Because of the high degree of freedom offered by the additive manufacturing, parts having almost any possible geometry can be produced by SLM. More specifically, with this process it is possible to build parts with extremely complex shapes and geometries that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to produce using conventional subtractive manufacturing processes. Another major advantage of SLM compared to conventional techniques is the fast cooling rate during the process. This permits the production of bulk materials with very fine microstructures and improved mechanical properties or even bulk metallic glasses. In addition, this technology gives the opportunity to produce ready-to-use parts with minimized need for post-processing (only surface polishing might be required). Recently, significant research activity has been focused on SLM processing of different metallic materials, including steels, Ti-, Ni- and Al-based alloys. However, most of the research is devoted to the parameters optimization or to feasibility studies on the production of complex structures with no detailed investigations of the structure-property correlation. Accordingly, this thesis focuses on the production and structure-property correlation of Al-12Si samples produced by SLM from gas atomized powders. The microstructure of the as-prepared SLM samples consists of supersaturated primary Al with an extremely fine cellular structure along with the residual free Si situated at the cellular boundaries. This microstructure leads to a remarkable mechanical behavior: the yield and tensile strengths of the SLM samples are respectively four and two times higher than their cast counterparts. However, the ductility is significantly reduced compared with the cast samples. The effect of annealing at different temperatures on the microstructure and resulting mechanical properties of the SLM parts has been systematically studied by analyzing the size, morphology and distribution of the phases. In addition, the mechanical properties of the SLM samples have been modeled using micro- structural features, such as the crystallite and matrix ligament sizes. The results demonstrate that the mechanical behavior of the Al-12Si SLM samples can be tuned within a wide range of strength and ductility through the use of the proper annealing treatment. The Al-Si alloys are generally used as pistons or cylinder liners in automotive applications. This requires good wear resistance and sufficient strength at the operating temperature, which ranges between 373 – 473 K. Accordingly, the tensile properties of the SLM samples were also tested at these temperatures. Changing the hatch style during SLM processing vary the texture in the material. Hence, samples with different hatch styles were produced and the effect of texture on their mechanical behavior was evaluated. The results show that the hatch style strongly influences both the mechanical properties and the texture of the samples; however no direct correlation was observed between texture and mechanical properties. The wear properties of the Al-12Si material was evaluated using pin-on-disc and fretting wear experiments. These experiments show that the as-prepared SLM samples exhibit better wear resistance than their cast counterparts and the SLM heat-treated samples. Finally, the corrosion investigations reveal that the SLM samples have similar corrosion behavior as the cast specimens under acidic conditions. A major drawback for the wide application of SLM as an industrial processing route is the limited size of the products. This is a direct consequence of the limited dimensions of the available building chambers, which allow for the production of samples with volumes of about 0.02 m3. A possible way to overcome this problem would be the use of the welding processes to join the small SLM objects to form parts with no dimensional limitations. In order to verify this possibility, friction welding was employed to join Al-12Si SLM parts. The results indicate that friction welding not only successfully permits the join materials manufactured by SLM, but also helps to significantly improve their ductility. This work clearly demonstrates that SLM can be successfully used for the production of Al-12Si parts with an overall superior performance of the mechanical and physical properties with respect to the conventional cast samples. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the SLM samples can be widely tuned in-situ by employing suitable hatch styles or ex-situ by the proper heat treatment. This might help the development of SLM for the production of innovative high-performance Al-based materials and structures with controlled properties for automotive and aerospace applications

Stress-corrosion interactions in Zr-based bulk metallic glasses

Stress-corrosion interactions in materials may lead to early unpredictable catastrophic failure of structural parts, which can have dramatic effects. In Zr-based bulk metallic glasses, such interactions are particularly important as these have very high yield strength, limited ductility, and are relatively susceptible to localized corrosion in halide-containing aqueous environments. Relevant features of the mechanical and corrosion behavior of Zr-based bulk metallic glasses are described, and an account of knowledge regarding corrosion-deformation interactions gathered from ex situ experimental procedures is provided. Subsequently the literature on key phenomena including hydrogen damage, stress corrosion cracking, and corrosion fatigue is reviewed. Critical factors for such phenomena will be highlighted. The review also presents an outlook for the topic

Selective laser melting of Ti-45Nb alloy

Ti-45Nb is one of the potential alloys that can be applied for biomedical applications as implants due to its low Young’s modulus. Ti-45Nb (wt.%) gas atomized powders were used to produce bulk samples by selective laser melting with three different parameter sets (energy inputs). A β-phase microstructure consisting of elliptical grains with an enriched edge of titanium was observed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. The mechanical properties of these samples were evaluated using hardness and compression tests, which suggested that the strength of the samples increases with increasing energy input within the range considered

Production of porous β-Type Ti–40Nb alloy for biomedical applications: Comparison of selective laser melting and hot pressing

We used selective laser melting (SLM) and hot pressing of mechanically-alloyed β-type Ti–40Nb powder to fabricate macroporous bulk specimens (solid cylinders). The total porosity, compressive strength, and compressive elastic modulus of the SLM-fabricated material were determined as 17% ± 1%, 968 ± 8 MPa, and 33 ± 2 GPa, respectively. The alloy’s elastic modulus is comparable to that of healthy cancellous bone. The comparable results for the hot-pressed material were 3% ± 2%, 1400 ± 19 MPa, and 77 ± 3 GPa. This difference in mechanical properties results from different porosity and phase composition of the two alloys. Both SLM-fabricated and hot-pressed cylinders demonstrated good in vitro biocompatibility. The presented results suggest that the SLM-fabricated alloy may be preferable to the hot-pressed alloy for biomedical applications, such as the manufacture of load-bearing metallic components for total joint replacements

Selective Laser Melting: Materials and Applications

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the manufacturing processes that warrants the attention of industrialists, researchers, and scientists. AM has the ability to fabricate materials to produce parts with complex shapes without any theoretical restrictions combined with added functionalities. Selective laser melting (SLM), also known as laser-based powder bed processing (LPBF), is one of the main AM process that can be used to fabricate wide variety of materials that are Al-, Ti-, Fe-, Ni-, Co-, W-, Ag-, and Au-based, etc. However, several challenges need to be addressed systematically, such as development of new materials that suit the SLM process conditions so the process capabilities can be fully used to produce new properties in these materials. Other issues in the field are the lack of microstructure–property correlations, premature failure, etc. Accordingly, this Special Issue (book) focuses mainly on the microstructure-correlation in three different alloys: AlSi10Mg, Ti6Al4V, and 304L stainless steel, where six articles are presented. Hence, this Special Issue outlines microstructure–property correlations in the SLM processed materials and provides a value addition to the field of AM

Selective Laser Melting: Materials and Applications

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the emerging manufacturing techniques of immense engineering and scientific importance and is regarded as the technique of the future [...

Selective laser melting of Al-12Si

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a powder-based additive manufacturing technique consisting of the exact reproduction of a three dimensional computer model (generally a computer-aided design CAD file or a computer tomography CT scan) through an additive layer-by-layer strategy. Because of the high degree of freedom offered by the additive manufacturing, parts having almost any possible geometry can be produced by SLM. More specifically, with this process it is possible to build parts with extremely complex shapes and geometries that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to produce using conventional subtractive manufacturing processes. Another major advantage of SLM compared to conventional techniques is the fast cooling rate during the process. This permits the production of bulk materials with very fine microstructures and improved mechanical properties or even bulk metallic glasses. In addition, this technology gives the opportunity to produce ready-to-use parts with minimized need for post-processing (only surface polishing might be required). Recently, significant research activity has been focused on SLM processing of different metallic materials, including steels, Ti-, Ni- and Al-based alloys. However, most of the research is devoted to the parameters optimization or to feasibility studies on the production of complex structures with no detailed investigations of the structure-property correlation. Accordingly, this thesis focuses on the production and structure-property correlation of Al-12Si samples produced by SLM from gas atomized powders. The microstructure of the as-prepared SLM samples consists of supersaturated primary Al with an extremely fine cellular structure along with the residual free Si situated at the cellular boundaries. This microstructure leads to a remarkable mechanical behavior: the yield and tensile strengths of the SLM samples are respectively four and two times higher than their cast counterparts. However, the ductility is significantly reduced compared with the cast samples. The effect of annealing at different temperatures on the microstructure and resulting mechanical properties of the SLM parts has been systematically studied by analyzing the size, morphology and distribution of the phases. In addition, the mechanical properties of the SLM samples have been modeled using micro- structural features, such as the crystallite and matrix ligament sizes. The results demonstrate that the mechanical behavior of the Al-12Si SLM samples can be tuned within a wide range of strength and ductility through the use of the proper annealing treatment. The Al-Si alloys are generally used as pistons or cylinder liners in automotive applications. This requires good wear resistance and sufficient strength at the operating temperature, which ranges between 373 – 473 K. Accordingly, the tensile properties of the SLM samples were also tested at these temperatures. Changing the hatch style during SLM processing vary the texture in the material. Hence, samples with different hatch styles were produced and the effect of texture on their mechanical behavior was evaluated. The results show that the hatch style strongly influences both the mechanical properties and the texture of the samples; however no direct correlation was observed between texture and mechanical properties. The wear properties of the Al-12Si material was evaluated using pin-on-disc and fretting wear experiments. These experiments show that the as-prepared SLM samples exhibit better wear resistance than their cast counterparts and the SLM heat-treated samples. Finally, the corrosion investigations reveal that the SLM samples have similar corrosion behavior as the cast specimens under acidic conditions. A major drawback for the wide application of SLM as an industrial processing route is the limited size of the products. This is a direct consequence of the limited dimensions of the available building chambers, which allow for the production of samples with volumes of about 0.02 m3. A possible way to overcome this problem would be the use of the welding processes to join the small SLM objects to form parts with no dimensional limitations. In order to verify this possibility, friction welding was employed to join Al-12Si SLM parts. The results indicate that friction welding not only successfully permits the join materials manufactured by SLM, but also helps to significantly improve their ductility. This work clearly demonstrates that SLM can be successfully used for the production of Al-12Si parts with an overall superior performance of the mechanical and physical properties with respect to the conventional cast samples. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the SLM samples can be widely tuned in-situ by employing suitable hatch styles or ex-situ by the proper heat treatment. This might help the development of SLM for the production of innovative high-performance Al-based materials and structures with controlled properties for automotive and aerospace applications

Selective laser melting of Al-12Si

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a powder-based additive manufacturing technique consisting of the exact reproduction of a three dimensional computer model (generally a computer-aided design CAD file or a computer tomography CT scan) through an additive layer-by-layer strategy. Because of the high degree of freedom offered by the additive manufacturing, parts having almost any possible geometry can be produced by SLM. More specifically, with this process it is possible to build parts with extremely complex shapes and geometries that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to produce using conventional subtractive manufacturing processes. Another major advantage of SLM compared to conventional techniques is the fast cooling rate during the process. This permits the production of bulk materials with very fine microstructures and improved mechanical properties or even bulk metallic glasses. In addition, this technology gives the opportunity to produce ready-to-use parts with minimized need for post-processing (only surface polishing might be required). Recently, significant research activity has been focused on SLM processing of different metallic materials, including steels, Ti-, Ni- and Al-based alloys. However, most of the research is devoted to the parameters optimization or to feasibility studies on the production of complex structures with no detailed investigations of the structure-property correlation. Accordingly, this thesis focuses on the production and structure-property correlation of Al-12Si samples produced by SLM from gas atomized powders. The microstructure of the as-prepared SLM samples consists of supersaturated primary Al with an extremely fine cellular structure along with the residual free Si situated at the cellular boundaries. This microstructure leads to a remarkable mechanical behavior: the yield and tensile strengths of the SLM samples are respectively four and two times higher than their cast counterparts. However, the ductility is significantly reduced compared with the cast samples. The effect of annealing at different temperatures on the microstructure and resulting mechanical properties of the SLM parts has been systematically studied by analyzing the size, morphology and distribution of the phases. In addition, the mechanical properties of the SLM samples have been modeled using micro- structural features, such as the crystallite and matrix ligament sizes. The results demonstrate that the mechanical behavior of the Al-12Si SLM samples can be tuned within a wide range of strength and ductility through the use of the proper annealing treatment. The Al-Si alloys are generally used as pistons or cylinder liners in automotive applications. This requires good wear resistance and sufficient strength at the operating temperature, which ranges between 373 – 473 K. Accordingly, the tensile properties of the SLM samples were also tested at these temperatures. Changing the hatch style during SLM processing vary the texture in the material. Hence, samples with different hatch styles were produced and the effect of texture on their mechanical behavior was evaluated. The results show that the hatch style strongly influences both the mechanical properties and the texture of the samples; however no direct correlation was observed between texture and mechanical properties. The wear properties of the Al-12Si material was evaluated using pin-on-disc and fretting wear experiments. These experiments show that the as-prepared SLM samples exhibit better wear resistance than their cast counterparts and the SLM heat-treated samples. Finally, the corrosion investigations reveal that the SLM samples have similar corrosion behavior as the cast specimens under acidic conditions. A major drawback for the wide application of SLM as an industrial processing route is the limited size of the products. This is a direct consequence of the limited dimensions of the available building chambers, which allow for the production of samples with volumes of about 0.02 m3. A possible way to overcome this problem would be the use of the welding processes to join the small SLM objects to form parts with no dimensional limitations. In order to verify this possibility, friction welding was employed to join Al-12Si SLM parts. The results indicate that friction welding not only successfully permits the join materials manufactured by SLM, but also helps to significantly improve their ductility. This work clearly demonstrates that SLM can be successfully used for the production of Al-12Si parts with an overall superior performance of the mechanical and physical properties with respect to the conventional cast samples. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the SLM samples can be widely tuned in-situ by employing suitable hatch styles or ex-situ by the proper heat treatment. This might help the development of SLM for the production of innovative high-performance Al-based materials and structures with controlled properties for automotive and aerospace applications