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Strength and fatigue behavior assessment of the SCALMALLOY® material to functionally adapt the performance of L-PBF components within CAE simulations

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Abstract

Thanks to Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) technology, SCALMALLOY® was the first aluminum powder material designed for Additive Manufacturing (AM), achieving a fine microstructure with high performance that is comparable to other cast materials. Despite the mechanical properties that can be achieved, there are some inherent factors that can impede components performance (i.e., surface roughness). Parts produced by L-PBF are usually characterized by rough “as-built” surfaces; hence, it is fundamental during the design phase to understand and consider how the quality of surfaces impacts on the part performance. This paper aims to provide a Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) workflow to design components with different finishing regions in accordance with the functional distinction that exists among them. To achieve this goal, a comparison of the mechanical properties achieved for SCALMALLOY® specimens with and without post-processing is here assessed to fit proper material models for numerical simulation purposes. The material models, built with/from experimental data, are fit to functionally adapt the performance of 3D-printed objects inside CAE simulations like a Functionally Graded Material (FGM). A CAE design workflow is here applied to a case study, suitable to demonstrate how the methodology may support the integrated product–process design of structural parts reducing the cost of post-processing in AM. This approach may mitigate the performance decrease of “as-built” surfaces since the experimental results show a different fatigue endurance limit between the “as-built” and CNC machined specimens about of three times.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to acknowledge the SISMA S.p.A. for the manufacturing of the specimens, the AGIOMETRIX S.r.l. for the industrial tomography, the Chemistry Department of the LNGS for the spectrometry analysis, and the staff of the mechanical workshops of LNGS and OMA S.p.A. for the CNC machining and experimental tests.

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from Italian Ministry of Economic Development (Bandi grandi progetti R&S a valere sulle risorse del Fondo rotativo per il sostegno alle imprese e gli investimenti in ricerca—DD.MM. 15/10/2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), Via G. Acitelli 22, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy

    Daniele Cortis & Donato Orlandi

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMA), Sapienza University of Rome, via Eudossiana 18, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Daniele Cortis & Francesca Campana

  3. Officine Meccaniche Aeronautiche S.P.A. (OMA), via Cagliari 20, 06034, Foligno, Italy

    Stefano Sansone

Authors
  1. Daniele Cortis
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  2. Francesca Campana
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  3. Donato Orlandi
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Contributions

Conceptualization: DC, FC; Methodology: DC, FC; Formal analysis and investigation: DC, SS; Writing—original draft preparation: DC; Writing—review and editing: DC, FC; Funding acquisition: SS; Resources: SS, DO; Supervision: DO, FC.

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Correspondence to Daniele Cortis.

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Cortis, D., Campana, F., Orlandi, D. et al. Strength and fatigue behavior assessment of the SCALMALLOY® material to functionally adapt the performance of L-PBF components within CAE simulations. Prog Addit Manuf 8, 933–946 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-022-00366-8

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