Development of Process Parameters for SLM Processing of AlSi7Mg Aluminum Alloy

摘要

The paper presents three steps of process parameters development of aluminum alloy AlSi7Mg0.6 for selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing process. Commonly, the components of AlSi7Mg0.6 aluminum alloy are produced by casting. However, to speed up the development phase of new products, often the SLM prototyping is used and thus the processing parameters for this material are required. To develop process parameters of new alloy, single weld tracks were used followed by thin walls and cuboid samples. The cross sections and continuity of single-track welds were evaluated within the range of 200-2000 mm/s laser scanning speed and 175-400 W laser power. The tracks with good size and quality were chosen for further analysis. To minimize the porosity of material, cuboid samples with different overlap of weld tracks were evaluated. The overlap of approximately 80% was found to produce suitable samples with porosity below 0.5%. Finally, the mechanical properties of samples without heat treatment evaluated by tensile testing reached 380 MPa of ultimate tensile strength (UTS), which is slightly higher than cast alloy in T6 state.