New Aluminium Alloy Tailored For Powder Bed Fusion - Laser Beam Process

Paper in proceeding, 2022

The powder bed fusion - laser beam (PBF-LB) process can produce parts with complex geometry. Light weight designs can be created and by using light alloys further weight savings can be achieved. However, minimizing printing defects using standard aluminium alloys, such as 2000, 6000 and 7000 series alloys, have proved to be difficult since they are all prone to solidification cracking. In the present study, two aluminium alloys are addressed: The first alloy is the AlSi10Mg alloy known for easy printing and consistent quality in PBF-LB printing process. The second material is a novel alloy from self-developed Al-Mn-Cr-Zr family of alloys designed to inherently resist solidification cracking, while also providing strong ageing response. The quality of printing and the resulting mechanical properties are compared. The results show that the new material prints in a robust way and that the mechanical properties are superior to those of AlSi10Mg.