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Influence of laser process on the porosity-related defects, microstructure and mechanical properties for selective laser melted AlSi10Mg alloy

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Abstract

Correlations among the laser process, microstructure, porosity-related defects, and mechanical properties for selective laser melted AlSi10Mg alloy were investigated through experiments. A series of samples were produced with various laser parameters, and the porosity-related defects and microstructure were characterized by using X-ray computed tomography and scanning electron microscope. A model is proposed based on the energy density to reflect the evolution of the sample density with changing laser parameters; the optimal energy density level is evident when the sample density reaches 99.5%. Furthermore, the model has good applicability for both the volumetric energy density and deposited energy density parameters. In addition, defect evolution with increasing energy density, namely, the transition from lack of fusion defect domination to pore defect domination, is identified by considering anisotropy and sphericity factors simultaneously. The results also indicate that the porosity and Al-Si eutectic microcell have different effects on the mechanical properties. The negative correlation between the cell size and microhardness is built. The tensile strength highly depends on the porosity while the yield strength is mainly associated with the Al-Si eutectic structure.

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The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

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Notes

  1. The equivalent diameter of a defect is defined as \({D}_{eq}=\sqrt[3]{\frac{6\times {\text{Volume}}}{\pi }}\) [32]

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of University Research Program of Ford Motor Company and The National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 52090042].

Funding

This work is supported by University Research Program of Ford Motor Company and The National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 52090042].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Systems and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhenxuan Luo, Weiqin Tang, Dayong Li & Yinghong Peng

  2. Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou, 310000, China

    Yandong Shi & Xuming Su

  3. Research and Advanced Engineering Center, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI, 48121, USA

    Wei-Jen Lai, Carlos Engler-Pinto & Ziang Li

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  1. Zhenxuan Luo
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Zhenxuan Luo, Weiqin Tang, and Dayong Li; the manuscript was written by Zhenxuan Luo; others helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions.

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Correspondence to Weiqin Tang.

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Luo, Z., Tang, W., Li, D. et al. Influence of laser process on the porosity-related defects, microstructure and mechanical properties for selective laser melted AlSi10Mg alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 124, 281–296 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10523-6

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