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Gold plating of AlSi10Mg parts produced by a laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing technique

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Abstract

Laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF) method is one of the most important additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. AM-LPBF parts frequently need post-printing coatings for electrical and thermal conductivity enhancement, or matching decoration considerations. The current study presents a methodology for surface finishing of AM-LPBF AlSi10Mg artifacts coated with electroless gold. For this purpose, gold was deposited on AM-LPBF AlSi10Mg disk-shaped specimens and coins, resulting in an appearance similar to the original objects. The gold coating was characterized as a function of deposition time and gold film thickness. Mass and dimension measurements, optical profilometry, light microscopy observation, XRD analysis and a FIB-SEM technique were applied to characterize the coated samples. The roughness of the plated specimens was slightly reduced as the thickness of the gold film was increased. AM-LPBF AlSi10Mg disk-shaped specimens were coated successfully for the first time by electroless gold plating technique. The developed surface finish technique can be used for various applications, including 3D-printed replicas of ancient prestige artifacts and coins for museum exhibitions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Sharon Tuvia (1982), Ltd. for providing the materials and printing facilities. This research was supported by Tel Aviv University and the Afeka Academic College of Engineering to whom the authors are grateful. Special thanks are due to D. Shani and N. Dresler who worked hard on the project, for their valuable technical assistance and for the partial characterization of the AM-SLM specimens. Thanks are also due to S. Maman, I. Kravchinski, and A. Ulanov, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Afeka Academic College of Engineering, for their technical assistance and support. The authors are thankful to Dr. H. Gitler, The Israel Museum Jerusalem, for his advice and encouragement. Thanks are also due to Interplate Ltd, Israel, for the commercial gold coating. The authors would also like to thank E. Leonhardt, HIROX Europe, R. Malmazada and H. Kravits, Microtech LTD (Israel) for their valuable assistance with the HIROX microscope, to Dr. Maria Tkachev and Dr. Yafit Fleger, Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar Ilan University, for their assistance with the FIB-SEM measurements, and to B. Doron for the English editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Alexandra Inberg & Yosi Shacham-Diamand

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

    Dana Ashkenazi

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

    Giora Kimmel & Adin Stern

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

    Yosi Shacham-Diamand

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

    Adin Stern

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  1. Alexandra Inberg
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Correspondence to Dana Ashkenazi.

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Inberg, A., Ashkenazi, D., Kimmel, G. et al. Gold plating of AlSi10Mg parts produced by a laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing technique. Prog Addit Manuf 5, 395–404 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40964-020-00134-6

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