Open AccessInfluence of the Manufacturing Parameters in Selective Laser Melting on Properties of Aluminum Alloy AlSi7Mg0.6 (A357)
Author(s) -
Arnold Mauduit,
Hervé Gransac,
Sébastien Pillot
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
annales de chimie, science des matériaux/annales de chimie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1958-5934
pISSN - 0151-9107
DOI - 10.18280/acsm.450101
Subject(s) - materials science , alloy , keyhole , selective laser melting , anisotropy , microstructure , aluminium , laser , thermal conduction , laser power scaling , thermal , thermal conductivity , evaporation , material properties , composite material , optics , thermodynamics , welding , physics
Various selective laser melting (SLM) configurations (8 in all) were tested on aluminum alloy AlSi7Mg0.6 by making single tracks on parallelepipeds specimens. We used an energy balance as a means of connecting the machine parameters (power, speed, etc.) of the 8 configurations to the morphology (geometry) of the single tracks. On this basis, we correlated the width, depth and especially the section area of the melt pool (single track) to the linear energy density. We were also able to assess the absorption coefficient of the aluminum alloy AlSi7Mg0.6 as a function of the temperature. The study was then focused on the microstructure and the possible impacts on the material properties including on the mechanical characteristics and the anisotropy observed in literature based on the build direction. Evidence suggests that the Hall-Petch relation can be used to explain this anisotropy. The thermal analysis highlighted two laser operating modes: the keyhole mode and the conduction mode. These modes have also been described via the morphology of the single tracks. Finally, a comparison between Rosenthal’s theoretical model (in the case of the conduction mode) and actual conditions was proposed by the obtained geometry of the single tracks as well as the cooling speeds calculated and measured using the dendrite arm spacing (DAS). The maximum temperatures achieved were also assessed by Rosenthal’s theoretical model which made it possible to explain the evaporation of some chemical elements during the manufacturing of the aluminum alloy through SLM.