"Additive Manufacturing of High Strength Aluminum Alloys" 

Hyeongseob Kim, MSE PhD Candidate 

Advisor: Professor Xinghang Zhang

ABSTRACT

There has been great interest in the use of high-strength aluminum alloys in the aerospace and automotive industries because of their superior strength-to-weight ratio. There is tremendous potential of laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) in terms of the design freedom of making highly complex aluminum parts; however, there is a serious limitation on the transferability of conventional high-strength wrought aluminum grades into L-PBF because of problems related to hot tearing and solidification cracking. To address these limitations, different approaches have been considered in the design of alloys for additive manufacturing, including near-eutectic Al-Si cast grades, solute-based grain refinement through Sc/Zr alloying, and TM-based alloying. This review focuses on microstructure evolution, crack prevention strategies, mechanical behavior at room temperature, and thermal stability at elevated temperatures of additively manufactured aluminum alloys.