An additively manufactured Al-14.1Mg-0.47Si-0.31Sc-0.17Zr alloy with high specific strength, good thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2020.06.036

Abstract

Abstract:

A novel Al-14.1Mg-0.47Si-0.31Sc-0.17 Zr alloy was applied in the printing process of selective laser melting (SLM), and the corresponding microstructural feature, phase identification, tensile properties and corrosion behavior of the AlMgSiScZr alloy were studied in detail. As fabricated at 160 W and 200 mm/s, the Mg content of bulk sample decreased to 11.7 wt% due to the element vaporization at high energy density, and the density of this additively manufactured AlMgSiScZr alloy was 2.538 g/cm ³, which is 4.2 %~8.5 % lighter than that of other SLM-processed Al alloys. After heat-treated (HT) at 325 ℃ and 6 h, the microstructure was almost unchanged with an alternate distribution of fine equiaxed crystals and coarse columnar crystals. Nano-sized Al₃(Sc, Zr) and Mg₂Si phases precipitated dispersedly in the Al matrix, and the tensile strength increased from 487.6 MPa to 578.4 MPa for precipitation strengthening and fine grain strengthening. With a fine grain size of 2.53 μm, an excellent corrosion resistance was obtained for the as-printed (AP) AlMgSiScZr alloy. While the corrosion resistance of HT sample decreased slightly for the formation of non-dense oxide layer and pitting corrosion induced by diffuse precipitation distribution. This SLM-printed AlMgSiScZr alloy with high specific strength, good thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance has broad prospects for the aerospace and automotive applications.

Key words: Additive manufacturing, AlMgSiScZr alloy, Microstructural feather, Specific strength, Corrosion resistance, Thermal stability

Jiang Bi, Zhenglong Lei, Yanbin Chen, Xi Chen, Nannan Lu, Ze Tian, Xikun Qin. An additively manufactured Al-14.1Mg-0.47Si-0.31Sc-0.17Zr alloy with high specific strength, good thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 67: 23-35.

Figures/Tables 17

Table 1 Chemical compositions of powder and bulk sample (wt%).

Elements	Mg	Sc	Zr	Zn	Cu	Fe	Si	Ni	Er	Cr	Al
Powder	14.10	0.31	0.17	0.02	0.02	0.16	0.47	0.03	0.016	0.017	Bal
Bulk	11.7	0.31	0.17	0.01	0.02	0.16	0.47	0.03	0.016	0.016	Bal

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of SLM (a), SLM process of AlMgSiScZr alloy (b) and scanning strategy (c).

Fig. 2. Optical microstructure and EPMA of bulk specimens (YZ plane): (a), (b) AP condition and (c), (d) HT condition, (e) EPMA of Al, (f) EPMA of Mg, (g) SE, (h) BSE.

Fig. 3. Inverse pole figure, misorientation angle distribution and grain size distribution of AlMgSiScZr alloy: (a), (c), (e) AP condition and (b), (d), (f) HT condition.

Fig. 4. XRD patterns of raw powder and bulk samples (a), further magnification of zone b (b) and zone c (c).

Fig. 5. Bright field images of AlMgSiScZr alloy at the AP condition: (a) fine equiaxed crystals, (b) coarse columnar crystals, (c) grain boundary and (d) strip-shaped Mg2Si phase.

Fig. 6. Bright field images of AlMgSiScZr alloy at the HT condition: (a) Al3(Sc, Zr), (b) HRTEM of Al3(Sc, Zr), (c) dispersed distribution of Mg2Si phase, (d) HRTEM of Mg2Si.

Fig. 7. Tensile performance of AP and HT AlMgSiScZr alloy: (a) true stress-strain curves, (b) strength and elongation.

Fig. 8. Tensile fracture morphologies of SLM-processed AlMgSiScZr alloy: (a-c) AP condition and (d-f) HT condition.

Fig. 9. Potentiodynamic polarization curves for the AP and HT AlMgSiScZr samples in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution.

Table 2 Fitting results obtained from polarization curves of the AP and HT AlMgSiScZr alloy in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution.

Samples	i_corr (μA cm^-2)	β_a (mV/dec)	-β_c (mV/dec)	E_pit (V)	R_p (Ω cm²)
AP AlMgSiScZr alloy	0.139	238.8	163.4	-0.743	16.8 × 10⁴
	0.163	374.5	222.7	-0.767	15.0 × 10⁴
	0.143	203.2	172.7	-0.749	28.4 × 10⁴
Average value	0.148	272.2	186.3	-0.753	20.1 × 10⁴
Std-Dev	0.013	90.4	26.0	0.012	7.3 × 10⁴
HT AlMgSiScZr alloy	2.607	111.0	69.6	-0.864	1.1 × 10⁴
	2.427	111.2	65.8	-0.877	1.2 × 10⁴
	2.575	237.8	151.8	-0.923	1.9 × 10⁴
Average value	2.536	153.3	95.7	-0.888	1.4 × 10⁴
Std-Dev	0.078	59.7	39.7	0.025	0.4 × 10⁴

Fig. 10. EIS measurements for the AP and HT AlMgSiScZr samples in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution: (a) Nyquist plots; (b) and (c) Bode plots;(d) equivalent circuit model.

Table 3 Fitting results of EIS of the AP and HT AlMgSiScZr samples in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution.

Samples	R_s (Ω cm²)	R_f (kΩ cm²)	CPE₁×10^-6 (F cm^-2)	n₁	R_ct (kΩ cm²)	CPE₂×10^-5 (F cm^-2)	n₂	χ²×10^-3 Chi-squared values
As-printed AlMgSiScZr alloy	16.15	62.22	10.62	0.80	28.08	23.18	0.80	2.42
	15.99	48.57	10.64	0.86	26.83	21.96	0.95	1.56
	16.48	43.19	7.04	0.91	19.25	2.55	0.93	1.74
Average value	16.21	51.33	9.43	0.86	24.72	15.90	0.89	1.91
Std-Dev	0.20	8.01	1.69	0.04	3.90	9.45	0.07	0.37
Heat-treated AlMgSiScZr alloy	16.30	38.61	7.23	0.90	23.55	5.01	0.92	1.52
	16.72	30.33	9.47	0.91	69.58	29.12	0.78	1.09
	16.44	43.76	7.14	0.90	20.53	3.07	0.92	1.66
Average value	16.49	37.56	7.95	0.9	37.88	12.4	0.87	1.42
Std-Dev	0.17	5.53	1.08	0.01	22.44	11.8	0.07	0.24

Fig. 11. Material performance comparison of AlMgSiScZr and other Al alloys: (a) calculated density and specific strength; (b) tensile properties.

Fig. 12. Precipitation strengthening in AlMgSiScZr alloy: (a) piling up of dislocations; (b) pinning effect on dislocations and sub-grains.

Fig. 13. The crystal structure (a), 3D model of Al3Sc and Al3(Sc, Zr) particles (b) and corresponding EDS measuring line of Al3(Sc, Zr).

Fig. 14. The corrosion mechanism of AP and HT AlMgSiScZr alloys at 3.5 wt% NaCl solution.

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