Innovation in additive manufacturing of parts from aluminium matrix composites

Abstract

The laser build-up cladding is a well-known technique for additive manufacturing tasks. Modern equipment for the laser cladding enables material to be deposited with the lateral resolution of about 100 μm and to manufacture miniature parts. In this paper the laser micro cladding process was investigated to produce miniature thin-wall parts of Al-based composites. Thin walls formation process by subsequent single tracks overlapping with vertical increment was investigated. The influence of the cladding parameters on the minimal width and the quality of the fabricated thin walls was examined. The thin walls with the minimal width of 140 μm and surface roughness Ra 1,5 μm were generated. Laser micro cladding potential to manufacture lattice-shaped structures of Al-Si composites was shown. Fabricated thin-wall structures can have application in different fields e.g. aviation, automotive and tooling industries.