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Silver Electroless Finishing of Selective Laser Melting 3D-Printed AlSi10Mg Artifacts

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Abstract

Additive manufactured selective laser melting (AM-SLM) parts often need post-printing coatings. The current research presents a method for surface finishing of AM-SLM AlSi10Mg parts coated by electroless silver plating. Such coating can be applied as a decorative film on printed replicas of antique artifacts. For this purpose, silver was deposited for the first time on AlSi10Mg printed disk-shaped specimens and coins, making their appearance close to the original artifact. The silver was plated with and without adhesion-promoting silane self-assembled monolayers. Dimensions and mass measurements, pilling test, light microscopy, optical profilometer, SEM–EDS examination, XRD analysis, and FIB-SEM technique were applied to characterize the coated samples. The results displayed good silver quality with a satisfactory appearance. The roughness of the plated samples was slightly reduced as the thickness of the silver layer was increased. The developed coating can be adapted for different applications, including printed replicas of coins in museum exhibitions.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the Afeka Academic College of Engineering and the Tel Aviv University to whom the authors are grateful. The authors would like to thank Sharon Tuvia (1982) Ltd, Israel, for providing the facilities and printed samples for this research. The authors are thankful to Dr. H. Gitler, The Israel Museum Jerusalem, for his advice and encouragement. Thanks to S. Maman and A. Ulanov, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Afeka Academic College of Engineering, for their engineering assistance. Thanks to R. Burstein, Interplate Ltd, Israel, for the commercial silver coating, to Dr. D. Mogilevsky, Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, for the XRD analysis. The authors would also like to thank Dr. M. Tkachev and Dr. Y. Fleger, Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar Ilan University, for their assistance with the FIB measurements, and to B. Doron for the English editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Afeka Academic College of Engineering, 69107, Tel Aviv, Israel

    N. Dresler & A. Stern

  2. School of Electrical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Ramat Aviv, Israel

    A. Inberg & Y. Shacham-Diamand

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Ramat Aviv, Israel

    D. Ashkenazi

  4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Ramat Aviv, Israel

    Y. Shacham-Diamand

  5. Department of Materials Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 8410501, Beer Sheva, Israel

    A. Stern

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  1. N. Dresler
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Correspondence to D. Ashkenazi.

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Dresler, N., Inberg, A., Ashkenazi, D. et al. Silver Electroless Finishing of Selective Laser Melting 3D-Printed AlSi10Mg Artifacts. Metallogr. Microstruct. Anal. 8, 678–692 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13632-019-00576-7

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