Effect of Heat Treatment on Wire + Arc Additive Manufactured Aluminum 5356 Alloy: Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Correlation

In this work, the aluminum 5356 (Al5356) component was fabricated by Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) process and subjected to heat treatment at three different temperatures i.e., 450, 525, and 600°C. Detailed mechanical and microstructural characterization was performed on the as-fabricated and heat-treated samples to correlate the change in mechanical properties with its corresponding microstructure. The mechanical properties were estimated using the tensile and Rockwell hardness tester, and the microstructural characterization was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) technique. The samples heat-treated at 450°C show superior strength (i.e. UTS 260 MPa) as compared to as-fabricated, heat-treated at 525 and 600°C due to the beneficial evolution of fine second phase particles after heat treatment.