Snopiński Przemysław, Kotoul Michal, Petruška Jindřich, Rusz Stanislav, Żaba Krzysztof, Hilšer Ondřej
Department, of Engineering Materials and Biomaterials, Silesian University of Technology, 18A Konarskiego Street, 44-100, Gliwice, Poland.
Institute of Solid Mechanics, Mechatronics and Biomechanics, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2, 616 69, Brno, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 27;13(1):16166. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-43448-5.
In this study, microstructural features direct metal laser melted (DMLM) aluminium-silicon-magnesium (AlSi10Mg) are investigated using advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM). The focus is on post-processing by ECAP (Equal Channel Angular Pressing) and its effects on grain refinement, stacking fault formation and dislocation accumulation. In addition, the strength enhancing role of stacking faults is for the first time quantified. The results show that ECAP can increase the yield strength from 294 to 396 MPa, while the elongation increases from 2.4% to 6%. These results show that ECAP processing offers a new approach for producing AlSi10Mg products with improved strength and ductility.