Evaluation of an Al-Ce alloy for laser additive manufacturing. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Plotkowski, A.; Rios, O.; Sridharan, N.; Sims, Z.; Unocic, K.; Ott, R.T.; Dehoff, R.R.; Babu, S.S.
• Is Part Of: Acta materialia. Volume 126(2017)
• Page Start: 507
• Page End: 519
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: Additive manufacturing -- Al alloys -- Microstructure control -- Microstructure modeling; Materials -- Periodicals; Materials science -- Periodicals; Materials -- Mechanical properties -- Periodicals; Metallurgy -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; 620.112
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2016.12.065
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-6454

Abstract

Abstract: This study focuses on the development of a design methodology for alloys in AM, using a newly developed Al-Ce alloy as an initial case study. To evaluate the candidacy of this system for directed energy deposition processes, single-line laser melts were made on cast Al-12Ce plates using three different beam velocities (100, 200, and 300 mm/min). The microstructure was evaluated in the as-melted and heat treated conditions (24 h at 300 °C). An extremely fine microstructure was observed within the melt pools, evolving from eutectic at the outer solid-liquid boundaries to a primary Al FCC dendritic/cellular structure nearer the melt-pool centerline. The observed microstructures were rationalized through the construction of a microstructure selection map for the Al-Ce binary system, which will be used to enable future alloy design. Interestingly, the heat treated samples exhibited no microstructural coarsening. Graphical abstract: Image