Study of the Al–V Alloy Density to Optimize the Conditions of Producing Powders for 3D Printing

The densities of aluminum and the alloys based on it and containing 3 and 5 wt % V are studied by penetrating gamma radiation in the temperature range 300–1500 K. When temperature increases, the sample density is shown to decrease jumpwise, which is associated with transition into a liquid state. After melting, a nonmonotonic change in the density is observed due to the presence of intermetallic compounds with different melting temperatures in the studied field of the Al–V phase diagram. The structural features of the melts are used to optimize the production of Al–V powders for 3D printing by selective laser melting.