| Abstract Scope |
To date, only a limited number of aluminum powders are available commercially for additive manufacturing (AM), which are suitable for demanding, high stress/temperature applications. Employing an integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approach complemented with experiments and physical simulations of laser AM processes, we have designed a series of low-cost, precipitation-hardened aluminum alloys based on the Al-TM (TM = transition metals) system for AM (NUAddAlloy series), which exhibit ultra-high strengths and good ductility at ambient and high temperatures (~400 °C). The strength of these alloys relies mainly on coarsening-resistant precipitates, which provide them with remarkable heat and creep resistance, unlike the current AM alloys, which experience dramatic strength losses at high temperatures. We investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of these alloys produced with selective laser melting (SLM), employing synchrotron X-ray diffraction, electron back-scatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atom-probe tomography, and tensile and compression tests at ambient and high temperatures. |