The effect of selective laser melting build orientation on the mechanical properties of AlSi10Mg parts

Additive manufacturing is currently applied across a broad material selection and it is growing in production volume and economic impact. Aluminium is one of the materials that play a significant role in the aerospace industry because of its good strength-to-weight ratio. However, comparatively lower interest is shown in the additive manufacturing of aluminium alloys compared to titanium alloys, therefore there is much scope for data gathering and development of this material. In this investigation, the microstructure and mechanical properties of AlSi10Mg that were built using selective laser melting at different orientations are explored. The specimen were built in the XY, 45° and Z orientations. The microstructures of the obtained samples showed typical scan patterns with the density and hardness values similar to literature values. The XY built samples showed the lowest level of porosity and also possessed the lowest ultimate tensile strength and elongation. In contrast, the 45° built samples showed the highest ductility with the Z build samples showing the highest ultimate tensile strength. This behaviour is anisotropic where different properties are observed for different build orientations, thus the build orientation should be taken into consideration during the optimization of the laser processing parameters.