Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is a manufacturing process based on the layer-by-layer deposition of material that represents a new way of manufacturing products. The product is formed in successive layers from the bottom up and is the opposite of machine - traditional machining processes. In traditional manufacturing processes, the product is made by removing parts of the material in various ways (turning, drilling, milling, etc.). There are several additive manufacturing processes. Selective laser melting (SLM) is one of the most efficient additive manufacturing methods for metals. The process can be used to manufacture machine or structural components from a variety of metals and alloys.
In this work, we focus on microstructural studies of 3D-printed AlSi10Mg alloy specimens fabricated by the SLM powder process and the changes in the metastable microstructure during heat treatment. The changes during heat treatment are determined by in-situ electrical resistivity measurements. Based on the determined temperature intervals of the electrical resistivity changes, the new SLM samples are heat treated accordingly and we characterize the microstructure by optical and electron microscopic studies (SM, SEM) and determine the Vickers hardness. To determine the chemical composition of the microstructure constituents, we will perform energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXS).
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