Improving the fabrication of AI-alloys using laser powder bed fusion

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), an additive manufacturing technique, is seen as a very favourable way to make light-weight components in industries such as automotive and aerospace.  Materials lightweighting is a research area of intense focus, particularly aluminium (AI) based materials which are attractive for use in the manufacture of high-performance alloys and composites.

Due to structural changes caused in part by the rapid cooling process, LPBF can cause several defects, affecting mechanical performance.  The use of AI can help suppress these defects; however, researchers are keen to improve the way in which AI alloys are processed.

Using pre-doped AI alloys, a group of scientists from Carl Zeiss and the University of Birmingham were able to study a TiB₂/AI-Cu composite, to understand its microstructure, mechanical properties and failure mechanisms.

By using in situ capabilities at Diamond they could investigate the defects, formation of fine grains, distribution of particles and their behaviours during deformation. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) was used to analyse porosity, grain structure, secondary particles and nanoprecipitation whilst in situ high-resolution tomography and diffraction were used during tensile loading to probe the micro-mechanical properties and failure mechanisms.

Find out what they discovered.

^{Image: CuriosityII, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons}