Metal Fused Filament Fabrication of AlSi10Mg Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

Metal-fused filament fabrication (MF3), which is a variation of the conventional fused filament fabrication (FFF), has recently gained interest due to its distinctive process flexibility and rapid prototyping capability to produce metallic parts. With respect to the additive manufacturing (AM) of aluminum alloys, most efforts have been centered on laser powder bed fusion technologies, with limited activities focused on binder-based processes due to challenges in the sintering of aluminum powders. With respect to MF3, one challenge for fabricating metallic components is the appropriate selection of a binder mixture, enabling the extrusion of a filament with high metallic volume content. In this paper, a mixture of biodegradable aliphatic polyester thermoplastic is used as a binder phase to act as the carrier for AlSi10Mg alloy powders.

Keywords

• aluminum alloy
• melt blending
• printability