Optimisation of the Heat Treatment Profile for Powder-Bed Fusion Built AlSi10Mg by Age Hardening and Ice-Water Quenching

Abstract

During powder-bed fusion (PBF), the irradiated material causes undesirable thermal stresses while experiencing large temperature oscillations over a rapid period. This requires the components produced by this technique to undergo thermal treatment. The characteristics of additively manufactured materials, which are rapid heating and cooling, do not accept conventional methods, such as thermal treatment, that alleviate stress for the removal of thermal stresses. In this research, the thermal treatment of age hardening is explored, in which AlSi10Mg is subjected to lower temperatures for longer periods of time. Other samples were thermally treated at 300 °C and 400 °C for various hours and quenched in ice water. This is conducted to identify the acceptable temperature and conditions that will improve the properties after thermal treatment without jeopardising other properties of the material and to investigate the effects of the thermal treatment profiles on the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of the AlSi10Mg samples.

Keywords

• age hardening
• AlSi10Mg
• thermal treatment