Mechanical properties characterisation of AlSi10Mg parts produced by laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing refers to a wide class of manufacturing processes based on the progressive building of functional parts through the addition of material layer upon layer. These technologies were first confined to prototyping, but the subsequent development of additive manufacturing processes for further materials, such as metals, has encouraged their worldwide industrial spread, from the biomedical field to the automotive and the aerospace industries. Additively manufactured parts are required to meet high and stable performance, at least comparable to that of conventional wrought materials, so as to comply with strict and well-defined international standards. This paper presents an investigation into the mechanical properties of AlSi10Mg parts produced by laser powder bed fusion technique, using different spatial orientations within the build volume. The effects of the part position and orientation on the static (tensile) properties of the produced parts were assessed by means of the two-way analysis of variance technique. The build angle was found to be the most effective parameter, while the variability ascribable to the effect of part position resulted mainly as physiological. The fatigue resistance showed a globally decreasing trend with increasing build angle.