As additive techniques such as laser powder bed fusion find increasing adoption industry, the ability to adapt these processes to industrially relevant materials is paramount. This adaptation can represent a significant challenge when working with wrought alloy feedstocks, which often result in brittle or porous parts lacking the mechanical properties of their conventionally wrought counterparts. One such alloy, aluminium 6061, is a highly used alloy in the aerospace, automotive,
and semiconductor manufacturing industries. The conventionally manufactured components can have complex morphologies and may be assemblies of multiple individual components. As such, the ability
to use an additive approach, and produce these as single parts can lead to significant benefits. In this work, we examine laser powder bed fusion of aluminium alloy 6061. The effects of process parameters such as laser power, beam scan speed, hatching distance, spot size was examined with a view towards developing an optimised process for this traditionally wrought alloy. Parts were examined for porosity and microstructure, with an aim to develop greater than 95% relative densities. To aid in process optimisation, in-situ pyrometry was deployed to understand the effects of the process parameters and develop a robust and repeatable process for producing 6061 components.
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
additive manufacturing; laser powder bed fusion; aluminium, 6061
Irish Research Council under Grant Number NF/2019/15931397, European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement No. 862100, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Number 16/RC/3872 and is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and by I-Form industry partners
ID Code:
27471
Deposited On:
03 Aug 2022 09:36 by
Ronan Mccann
. Last Modified 14 Mar 2023 15:47