Effect of optimized heat treatments on the tensile behavior and residual stresses of selective laser melted AlSi10Mg samples

The use of additive manufacturing (AM) technique is recently increased due to its ability in producing complex-shaped components. AlSi10Mg alloy is largely employed for AM and, in particular, for selective laser melting (SLM). Hence, the interest on this alloy is growing, together with the studies to control its mechanical performances, which can be increased by microstructure modification. With this focus, low temperature heat treatments to enhance AlSi10Mg mechanical behavior have been proposed in the recent literature. The present work focuses on two post-additive thermal treatments, with temperatures specifically selected for SLMed AlSi10Mg alloy. The study investigates their effect on mechanical performances, with a particular attention to residual stresses. Experimental measurements of residual stresses obtained by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) are presented, considering samples produced with their main dimension along the in-plane scanning directions (XY configuration) and the Z direction. Different conditions are accounted: 1) as-built; 2) after heat treatment at 244°C for 180 minutes; 3) after heat treatment at 290°C for 45 minutes. Tensile properties are correlated with the measurements of the residual stresses, allowing for a critical discussion and for a deeper insight on the correlation of the mechanical performance with the process parameters and the following thermal treatments.