| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Additive Manufacturing: Microstructural and Mechanical Long-term Stability of AM Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Optimization of Processing Conditions of a High-Strength, Additively Manufactured Aluminum Alloy for IR Mirror Applications |
| Author(s) |
Julian Lohser, Benjamin MacDonald, Paul Adams, Jenn-Ming Yang, Rafael Zaldivar |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Julian Lohser |
| Abstract Scope |
Additive manufacturing (AM) is an enabling technology for the fabrication of next-generation aluminum mirrors and optical assemblies for IR space applications. Most of the research in this area has been focused on AlSi10Mg, an aluminum casting alloy adopted for AM due to its ease of processing, despite limited properties. In this investigation, a new, modified 7075 aluminum alloy was utilized to attain both increased mechanical performance and high surface quality. A novel combination of multiple scan strategies and post processing heat treatments were investigated to identify the critical phase morphologies and targeted compositional variations required for use in this application. The various processed materials were also single-point diamond turned and evaluated for changes in optical quality and dimensional stability through interferometry. A final mirror surface roughness approaching 20Å RMS was successfully achieved. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Additive Manufacturing, Aluminum, Other |