Avaliação das ligas Al-5%Cu e Al-4%Cu-1%Ni tratadas por refusão à laser para aplicação em manufatura aditiva

Abstract

The processing of metals and alloys via Additive Manufacturing (AM) has received special attention in recent years due to the possibility of obtaining parts with complex geometries, quickly and with minimal waste of raw material. Aluminum-based alloys are potential candidates for these processes, however, currently there are few candidates Al-based alloys for use in AM, such as Al-12wt.%Si and Al-10wt.%Si-xMg system. This occurs because such alloys are susceptible to the formation of pores, cracks, distortions and roughness, which impair high performance applications. The addition of Ni in Al-Cu alloys system makes it possible to improve the mechanical properties at high temperatures and favors the reduction of the solidification interval, which results in a decrease in the amount of hot cracks and porosity in the final material. Given the context, the present research investigates the microstructural changes and the hardness of Al-5wt.%Cu and Al-4wt.%Cu-1wt.%Ni alloys processed by rapid solidification (centrifugation) and treated Laser surface remelting (LSR), in order to reproduce similar AM process conditions (high cooling rates 103 -108 K/s). In order to understand the effect of Ni on the solidification interval, fraction of intermetallics and on temperatures and phase transformations, simulations and thermodynamic calculations were carried out by Thermo-calc software. Characterization techniques such as optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used, in addition to thermal analysis by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Vickers microhardness. The simulations revealed a reduction of the solidification interval of approximately 22% in the Al-4.0wt.%Cu-1.0wt.%Ni alloy, and consequently, a decrease in the porosity of the Laser remelted pools. The microstructure of the rapidly solidified samples is characterized by a α-Al dendritic matrix, surrounded by a eutectic mixture α-Al, Al2Cu and Al7Cu4Ni. In the remelted pools, there was a transition from epitaxial (pool base) to equiaxed (pool center) growth with a significant microstructural refinement around 92% (from λ1=7.63 - 7.41 µm to λ1=0.681 - 0.609µm), which favored an increase of about 82-90% (Al-5wt.%Cu: from 58.4 HV to 106.9 HV / Al-4wt.%Cu-1wt.%Ni: from 60.5 HV to 117 HV) of the microhardness in the microstructures Laser treated.