Multi-material selective laser melting of Fe/Al-12Si components

In this work, a multi-material selective laser melting (SLM) prototype system is demonstrated with the capability of mixing two metallic powders at different compositions on demand. The flexible system can operate for in-situ alloying of different elements as well as producing composite materials. In this preliminary work, Fe/Al-12Si component manufacturing is demonstrated. Initially, pure Fe and Al-12Si powders are studied separately. At a second phase the 55/45 volumetric ratio of Fe/Al-12Si mixture is processed. Finally, deposition of parts composed of Fe, Fe/Al-12Si, and Al-12Si layers is carried out demonstrating the feasibility of the powder-bed fusion based additive manufacturing method for multi-material manufacturing.