The Static and Fatigue Behavior of AlSiMg Alloy Plain, Notched, and Diamond Lattice Specimens Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Abstract

The fabrication of engineered lattice structures has recently gained momentum due to the development of novel additive manufacturing techniques. Interest in lattice structures resides not only in the possibility of obtaining efficient lightweight materials, but also in the functionality of pre-designed architectured structures for specific applications, such as biomimetic implants, chemical catalyzers, and heat transfer devices. The mechanical behaviour of lattice structures depends not only the composition of the base material, but also on the type and size of the unit cells, as well as on the material microstructure resulting from a specific fabrication procedure. The present work focuses on the static and fatigue behavior of diamond cell lattice structures fabricated from an AlSiMg alloy by laser powder bed fusion technology. In particular, the specimens were fabricated with three different orientations of lattice cells—[001], [011], [111]—and subjected to static tensile testing and force-controlled pull–pull fatigue testing up to 1 × 107 cycles. In parallel, the mechanical behavior of dense tensile plain and notched specimens was also studied and compared to that of their lattice counterparts. Results showed a significant effect of the cell orientation on the fatigue lives: specimens oriented at [001] were ~30% more fatigue-resistant than specimens oriented at [011] and [111].

Keywords

• laser powder bed fusion
• lattice structures
• cell orientation
• fatigue