Effect of building orientations and heat treatments on AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated by selective laser melting: microstructure evolution, mechanical properties, fracture mechanism and corrosion behavior

Purpose The present paper aims to systematically investigate the influence of building orientations (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°) and heat treatment processes on the macro-/micro-structural, mechanical and electrochemical behaviors of selective laser melting (SLM) prepared AlSi10Mg alloy parts. Design/methodology/approach AlSi10Mg samples were produced by the SLM method using standard processing parameters at 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75° building angles. The effects of building orientations on the physical, mechanical and electrochemical properties of the alloy were investigated. Findings With the increase in the building orientation from 15° to 75°, the structural defects were found reducing. The effect of step size of inclined geometries was found to significantly influence the mechanical and electrochemical properties of the AlSi10Mg samples. Tensile strength for samples fabricated at lower angles (0°, 15°, 30°) reported a drop of approximately 11% than SLM 0° samples. Moreover, the tensile strength was found to decrease from 412.35 ± 9.568 MPa for the as-built samples to 290.48 ± 12.658 MPa, whereas the fracture strain increases from 3.32 ± 0.56% to 5.6 ± 0.6% when the as-built sample was treated with T6 treatment. This study indicates that the microstructure and mechanical properties of SLM-processed AlSi10Mg alloy can be tailored by a suitable heat treatment or building angle. Originality/value Microstructural and mechanical behavior of horizontal or vertically built SLM components have already been demonstrated several times. However, the influence of different building orientations, such as 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, has not been explored in-depth, particularly on corrosion and general mechanical performance. As a result, this work may be of significant relevance to academics and designers, given the varying orientation of internal component of SLM structures.