In situ alloying and reinforcing of Al6061 during selective laser melting

This work investigates the feasibility of a novel method to simultaneously alloy and reinforce a low alloyed Al alloy (i.e., Al6061) during selective laser melting (SLM) via in situ decomposition of zinc oxide (ZnO). Based on Gibbs free energy calculations, an Al6061+6wt%ZnO powder mixture is designed and prepared. The thermal decomposition of ZnO, resulting in the formation of Al oxide and free Zn, simultaneously alloys and reinforces the Al matrix. This also provides extra thermal energy that alters the dynamics of the melt pool and necessitates a completely different set of optimised SLM parameters compared to traditional Al alloys. After SLM, it is shown that this method can successfully reinforce the Al matrix with numerous nanometer sized oxide particles (typically ~ 50-120 nm). Despite this clear success to manufacture in situ reinforced Al composites by SLM, the applied method could not avoid partial Zn evaporation (limiting in situ alloying) and could not successfully suppress the cracking that also occurs after SLM of unreinforced Al6061.