Design of heterogeneous structured Al alloys with wide processing window for laser-powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Required microstructural attributes of an alloy vary with structural applications. The microstructural fine-tuning capability of laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) enables application specific manufacture of the components. Such manufacture with L-PBF AM requires alloys that exhibit wide processing window and are amenable to multiple deformation mechanisms. However, high hot cracking susceptibility of Al alloys poses a barrier to such printability-performance synergy. In this work we show that an integration of, a) grain refinement through heterogeneous nucleation, and b) eutectic solidification, leads to crack-free parts at wide range of process parameters, microstructural heterogeneity, and hierarchy in the Al-Ni-Ti-Zr alloy. Such an integration targets hot cracking at multiple stages of solidification in L-PBF as opposed to the contemporary alloy design strategies that target hot-cracking at only specific stages of solidification. The Al-Ni-Ti-Zr alloy exhibits excellent printability and a high as-built tensile performance. Due to the wide processing window and amenability to multiple deformation mechanisms, the alloy microstructure and subsequently the performance, can be fine-tuned. Such strategy opens the gateway for application-specific manufacture of Al alloys with L-PBF AM and establishes a fundamental shift in current methodologies for design of these alloys for L-PBF AM.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that integrating grain refinement through heterogeneous nucleation and eutectic solidification in the Al-Ni-Ti-Zr alloy can produce crack-free parts across a wide range of process parameters, microstructural heterogeneity, and hierarchy. This approach targets hot cracking at multiple stages of solidification in L-PBF, as opposed to traditional alloy design strategies that focus on specific stages of solidification. The Al-Ni-Ti-Zr alloy shows excellent printability and high tensile performance, with the potential for fine-tuning microstructure and performance.