Influence of aluminium powder aging on Directed Energy deposition

The use of aluminium alloys for Additive Manufacturing is of high interest for advanced geometries and lightweight applications. In Directed Energy Deposition, a powder stock is processed with a laser beam, which offers a high process flexibility. However, aging of the powder feedstock during storage or after recycling remains fundamentally challenging for aluminium alloys because of their sensitivity to oxidation and porosity. In order to investigate these effects, AlSi10Mg powder batches were aged in different conditions and processed by Directed Energy Deposition. The results showed that powder aging does not significantly change the particle size or morphology, but it introduces more oxygen and hydrogen in the powder. The oxidation of the particles reduces the laser beam absorbance of the powder and increases wetting of the melt pool, which affects the track geometry. A 3.5 to 4.2 times higher porosity was observed in the material deposited from aged powder, which are most likely hydrogen pores caused by the increased hydrogen content in the aged powder. The tensile properties of the parts built with aged powder showed 19.0% lower yield strength, 14.2% lower ultimate strength and 99.2% higher elongation, which are most likely the results of the coarser microstructure and increased porosity. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

The use of aluminium alloys for Additive Manufacturing is highly interesting, but aging of the powder feedstock remains challenging due to the sensitivity of aluminium alloys to oxidation and porosity. Aging introduces oxygen and hydrogen into the powder, resulting in reduced laser beam absorbance, increased wetting of the melt pool, and higher porosity in the deposited material. Parts built with aged powder exhibit lower yield and ultimate strength, as well as higher elongation, attributed to coarser microstructure and increased porosity.