Effect of NiTi and heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated by selective laser melting
摘要
In this work, a novel NiTi-modified AlSi10Mg alloy was fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties were also systematically investigated. Results show that the addition of NiTi induces columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET) and eliminates crystallographic texture in the as-built alloy, which can be attributed to the in situ formed (Al, Si)3Ti during SLM process. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation further reveals that the addition of NiTi redistributes the Si phase. In addition to being concentrated at the grain boundaries, numerous nanoscale Si particles precipitate within the α-Al grains. This microstructural reorganization is accompanied by the segregation of Al3Ni along grain boundaries. Consequently, compared to AlSi10Mg alloy, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the as-built NiTi-AlSi10Mg alloy increases by 7.1%. The addition of NiTi also improves the heat resistance of AlSi10Mg alloy. After exposure at 300 °C/2h, the UTS of the NiTi-AlSi10Mg alloy is 344.8 MPa, which is significantly higher than that of the AlSi10Mg alloy (282 MPa). This work demonstrates that NiTi addition effectively suppresses microstructural instability and strength degradation at elevated temperatures, providing an effective strategy for developing heat-resistant AlSi10Mg components.