Short Heat Treatments for the F357 Aluminum Alloy Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Optimization of Process Parameters
3.2. Hardness
3.3. XRD Analysis
3.4. DSC Analysis
3.5. Microstructure
3.6. Mechanical Properties
4. Conclusions
- The F357 powder can be easily processed by L-PBF. The optimized parameters to produce F357 fully dense samples were P = 195 W; v = 700 mm/s; hd = 0.12 mm.
- The F357 sample hardness increased after direct aging compared to the as-built condition. A 6 h DA heat treatment at 170 °C led to the highest hardness value of 146 ± 5 HV. The S-SHT sample was characterized by the lowest hardness value because of the dissolution of the alloying elements and the subsequent aging heat treatment at 170 °C caused the hardness to increase up to 132 ± 3 HV.
- The microstructures of AB and DA-6 samples were composed of melt pools and cellular α-Al surrounded by a eutectic Si network which was partially broken after 6 h DA treatment. Furthermore, the α-Al cells of the DA-6 samples contained some fine Si precipitates.
- The microstructures of S-SHT and S-T6-6 were homogenous, did not present melt pools, and were characterized by the presence of Si particles of about 1–2 µm mean size with irregular shape.
- The tensile tests revealed that the DA-6 sample presented the highest YS with a value of 268 MPa but with a reduction in elongation at break with respect to the AB sample. The S-T6-6 treatment showed considerably higher elongation at break than the other two conditions, with a slightly lower YS and UTS.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Si | Mg | Ti | Fe | Cu | Zn | Mn | Be | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
wt% | 6.5–7.5 | 0.45–0.60 | 0.20 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.03 | <0.002 |
Heat Treatment | Heat Treatment Procedure | Sample Code |
---|---|---|
Direct Aging | 170 °C/2 h/AC 1 | DA-2 |
170 °C/4 h/AC | DA-4 | |
170 °C/6 h/AC | DA-6 | |
170 °C/8 h/AC | DA-8 | |
Short Solution Heat Treatment | 540 °C/15 min/Water Quench | S-SHT |
Short T6 | S-SHT/170 °C/2 h/AC | S-T6-2 |
S-SHT/170 °C/4 h/AC | S-T6-4 | |
S-SHT/170 °C/6 h/AC | S-T6-6 | |
S-SHT/170 °C/8 h/AC | S-T6-8 |
Alloy | Heat Treatment | YS (MPa) | UTS (MPa) | ε (%) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
F357 | AB | 254 (0.05) | 382 (6) | 3.5 (0.2) | This work |
F357 | DA-6 | 268 (0.6) | 362 (0.6) | 2.4 (0.2) | This work |
F357 | S-T6-6 | 218 (21) | 270 (18) | 4.5 (0.8) | This work |
A357 L-PBF | AB | 245 (5) | 389 (5) | 5.2 (0.4) | [11] |
A357 L-PBF | T6 | 250 (10) | 308 (12) | 5.2 (0.2) | [11] |
A357 L-PBF | DA | 308 (3) | 400 (9) | 3.9 (0.7) | [12] |
A357 L-PBF | T6 | 256 (4) | 306 (5) | 4.7 (0.1) | [12] |
A357 L-PBF | SR T6 | 249 (9) | 307 (10) | 5.1 (0.3) | [20] |
A357 cast | T6 | 281 (2) | 305 (3) | 4.1 (0.1) | [31] |
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Vanzetti, M.; Virgillito, E.; Aversa, A.; Manfredi, D.; Bondioli, F.; Lombardi, M.; Fino, P. Short Heat Treatments for the F357 Aluminum Alloy Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Materials 2021, 14, 6157. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14206157
Vanzetti M, Virgillito E, Aversa A, Manfredi D, Bondioli F, Lombardi M, Fino P. Short Heat Treatments for the F357 Aluminum Alloy Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Materials. 2021; 14(20):6157. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14206157
Chicago/Turabian StyleVanzetti, Matteo, Enrico Virgillito, Alberta Aversa, Diego Manfredi, Federica Bondioli, Mariangela Lombardi, and Paolo Fino. 2021. "Short Heat Treatments for the F357 Aluminum Alloy Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion" Materials 14, no. 20: 6157. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14206157