Mechanical Properties of High Mg-Content Al-Mg-Sc-Zr Alloy Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting

The effects of process parameters and aging treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of selective laser melting (SLM) fabricated high Mg-content Al-Mg-Sc-Zr aluminum alloy were systematically studied. Our experiment results show that the samples exhibit good processability with porosity less than 1%. The increase of Mg content in Al-Mg-Sc-Zr is beneficial to reduce the texture of the alloy. The laser scanning speed has a large influence on the Vickers hardness of as-fabricated samples. The maximum microhardness of as-fabricated sample reaches 148 +/- 2 HV with a compression yield strength of 342 +/- 7 MPa. After aging treatment, the distinction in microhardness of the samples obtained under different laser scanning speed is obviously reduced, and the mechanical properties of the samples are further improved with a maximum microhardness of 175 +/- 5 HV and a maximum compressive yield strength of 476 +/- 10 MPa, which are superior to the known Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy with same Sc and Zr content fabricated by SLM. In this study, a novel high Mg-content Al-Mg-Sc-Zr aluminum alloy specifically for SLM with good processability and mechanical properties was reported. Graphic

Automated summary

The study systematically investigated the effects of process parameters and aging treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a high Mg-content Al-Mg-Sc-Zr aluminum alloy fabricated using selective laser melting. Increased Mg content in the alloy helped reduce texture, while laser scanning speed significantly influenced the Vickers hardness of the samples. After aging treatment, the mechanical properties were further improved, with enhanced microhardness and compressive yield strength compared to known Al-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy fabricated using SLM.