Effects of solute supersaturation and re-precipitation on microstructure and mechanical properties of selective laser melted Al-Mn-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys
(1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
2. China Aluminum Materials Application Research Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing 102209, China;
3. Warwick Manufacturing Group, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK)
2. China Aluminum Materials Application Research Institute Co., Ltd., Beijing 102209, China;
3. Warwick Manufacturing Group, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK)
Abstract: A new Al-4.87Mn-1.42Mg-0.63Sc-0.20Zr (wt.%) alloy was fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) and its microstructure and mechanical properties before and after aging were investigated. The results show that at a laser power input of 300 W, increasing laser scanning speeds from 700 to 1500 mm/s improves the mechanical properties. In the meantime, the lattice distortion values increase from 0.15% to 0.31%, showing an increasing solute supersaturation. At a laser scanning speed of 1500 mm/s, the yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the as-SLM alloys are 356 MPa, 412 MPa and 17.7%, respectively. After aging at 350 °C for 8 h, these values increase to 527 MPa, 554 MPa and 10.4%, respectively. The contributions to the yield strength increments from the secondary Al6(Fe,Mn) needle-like phase and re-precipitated L12 structured Al6(Sc,Zr,Ti) nano-particles during aging are 74 and 79 MPa, respectively. As the aging temperature increases to 450 °C, the dominant precipitation strengthening is attributed to the secondary Al6(Sc,Zr,Ti) nano-particles.
Key words: Al-Mn-Mg alloy; selective laser melting; re-precipitation; solute atom; microstructure; mechanical properties