High strength Al-Li alloy development for laser powder bed fusion

With laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of aluminum alloys growing in recent years, the research focus is progressively shifting from processing attempts on mature cast and wrought aluminum alloys to developing new aluminum alloy systems. This paper reports a novel Al-Li alloy specifically developed for the LPBF technology. The methodology of laser glazing on cast parts was applied to approximate solidification conditions of LPBF. Five variants of Al-Cu-Li ingots with different Sc and Zr contents were developed, and the optimized chemical composition was obtained and converted to Al-Cu-Li-Sc-Zr powder. This newly developed Al-Cu-Li-Sc-Zr alloy was successfully processed by LPBF with a high building rate and a low Li loss rate. The novel alloy shows excellent tensile properties including yield strength of 482 +/- 1 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 539 +/- 1 MPa, and elongation of 8.8 +/- 0.7%.

Automated summary

This study reports a novel Al-Li alloy developed specifically for LPBF technology, utilizing laser glazing to approximate solidification conditions. A new Al-Cu-Li-Sc-Zr alloy was successfully processed by LPBF with high building rate and low Li loss rate, showing excellent tensile properties.