Deformation and fatigue behaviour of additively manufactured Scalmalloy? with bimodal microstructure

Laser powder bed fusion produced Scalmalloy (R) is a high potential candidate in aerospace industry. However, fatigue properties are the Achilles heel of additive manufacturing process, impeding high-performance fatigue loaded applications. This paper aims to unveil the impact of unique bimodal microstructure on the quasi-static tensile and the fatigue properties. It is shown that the material intrinsic fatigue strength of Scalmalloy (R) outperforms its additively manufactured aluminium counterparts significantly, already reaching values of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V. Moreover, by evaluating the R-curve for Scalmalloy (R), short crack growth was also taken into consideration for the analysis of the fatigue behaviour, elaborating an advanced Kitagawa-Takahashi diagram.

Automated summary

This paper aims to unveil the impact of unique bimodal microstructure on the quasi-static tensile and fatigue properties of Scalmalloy (R). The study reveals that Scalmalloy (R) has a higher fatigue strength compared to its additively manufactured aluminum counterparts, reaching levels comparable to additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V.