Design and Characterization of Innovative Gas-Atomized Al-Si-Cu-Mg Alloys for Additive Manufacturing

Matteo Vanzetti; Michael J. Pavel; C. Jacob Williamson; Elisa Padovano; Lorena I. Pérez-Andrade; Mark Weaver; Luke N. Brewer; Federica Bondioli; Paolo Fino

doi:10.3390/met13111845

Metals (Nov 2023)

Design and Characterization of Innovative Gas-Atomized Al-Si-Cu-Mg Alloys for Additive Manufacturing

Matteo Vanzetti,
Michael J. Pavel,
C. Jacob Williamson,
Elisa Padovano,
Lorena I. Pérez-Andrade,
Mark Weaver,
Luke N. Brewer,
Federica Bondioli,
Paolo Fino

Affiliations

Matteo Vanzetti: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Michael J. Pavel: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
C. Jacob Williamson: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
Elisa Padovano: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Lorena I. Pérez-Andrade: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
Mark Weaver: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
Luke N. Brewer: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA
Federica Bondioli: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Paolo Fino: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/met13111845
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 11
p. 1845

Abstract

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Metallic powders are widely utilized as feedstock materials in metal additive manufacturing (MAM). However, only a limited number of alloys can currently be processed using these technologies, with most of them being casting alloys. The objective of this study is to investigate novel aluminum alloys produced via a close-coupled gas atomizer (CCGA) by adding an increasing amount of copper (4, 8, and 20 wt%) to an AlSi10Mg alloy. The obtained powders were fully characterized to evaluate the effect of copper, a well-established strengthener for aluminum alloys, in order to correlate the obtained hardness to the powder phase composition and microstructure. In particular, a dendritic microstructure was observed in all alloys, and, as the copper content was increased, the size of the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) decreased progressively. Consequently, the hardness measured on the powder cross-section linearly increased with the copper content, and the hardness value of 185 ± 13 HV of the AlCu20Si10Mg composition was found to be twice that of the AlSi10Mg alloy (88 ± 5 HV).

Published in Metals

ISSN: 2075-4701 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Mining engineering. Metallurgy
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals

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