Enhanced thermal coarsening resistance in a nanostructured aluminum-cerium alloy produced by additive manufacturing

Decreasing microstructural length scales to the nanoscale is a proven way of increasing strength, but the intrinsic metastability of such structures typically makes them susceptible to thermally activated coarsening. Recent advances in additive manufacturing permit bulk-nanostructured materials to be produced through rapid solidification, but like other metastable materials the as-built structures typically coarsen rapidly with even modest thermal exposure. Here, selective laser melting is employed to produce an AlCe-based alloy with high mechanical strength arising from the as-built microstructure, which can be controlled by build conditions. In addition, the alloy exhibits extreme resistance to thermal coarsening up to 400 degrees C and superior strength retention compared to conventional Al alloys after extended thermal exposure. The near-zero solubility of Ce in Al and potent solid solution strengthening of Mg enable this behavior without requiring heat treatment. This result demonstrates that combining insoluble alloying elements with additive manufacturing is a viable method of producing exceptionally stable bulk nanoscale alloys. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Decreasing microstructural length scales to the nanoscale is an effective way of increasing material strength, but it can lead to susceptibility to thermally activated coarsening. In this study, a bulk-nanostructured AlCe-based alloy with high mechanical strength and resistance to thermal coarsening was successfully produced using selective laser melting, demonstrating the potential of combining insoluble alloying elements with additive manufacturing to create stable bulk nanoscale alloys.