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Characterizing the Effect of Thermal Processing on Feedstock Al Alloy Powder for Additive Manufacturing Applications

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Abstract

Gas-atomized metallic powders are commonly used in additive manufacturing processes. Research has shown that, for certain AM techniques, the chemistry and microstructural properties of the feedstock powders significantly affect the properties of the consolidated material. Understanding the powder characteristics before use in additive manufacturing can lead to optimizing properties of additively manufactured materials as well as determining the recyclability of feedstock powders. This research studies the effect of various solution treatment processes on the characteristics and microstructural evolution of powder aluminum alloy 6061. Solution treatment times and temperatures were guided by thermodynamic and kinetic modeling. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and hardness were used to evaluate each condition in both two and three dimensions. Results indicate that the Mg2Si present in the untreated condition dissolves after 60 min of solution treatment, while there are competing effects from the dissolution and concurrent growth of various Fe-containing phases. Additionally, it is shown that both granular and sub-granular structures exist in these rapidly solidified powders, and the sub-grains reorient themselves during solution treatment.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the United States Army Research Laboratory, Grant #W911NF-15-2-0024. This work was performed in part at the University of Connecticut Institute of Materials Science (UCONN IMS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA

    Caitlin Walde, Danielle Cote & Richard Sisson

  2. US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, USA

    Victor Champagne

Authors
  1. Caitlin Walde
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  2. Danielle Cote
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  3. Victor Champagne
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  4. Richard Sisson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Danielle Cote.

Additional information

This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the symposium “Additive Manufacturing of Metals: Powder Feedstock Characterization and Performance Simulation,” held during MS&T’17, October 8-12, 2017, in Pittsburgh, Pa., and has been expanded from the original presentation.

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Walde, C., Cote, D., Champagne, V. et al. Characterizing the Effect of Thermal Processing on Feedstock Al Alloy Powder for Additive Manufacturing Applications. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 28, 601–610 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-018-3550-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-018-3550-0

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