COMPONENT, IN PARTICULAR FOR A VEHICLE, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SUCH A COMPONENT

Abstract

A component includes a sub-region, where the component is produced at least in the sub-region by an additive manufacturing process. The sub-region is produced from an aluminum alloy which has 12% by weight to 40% by weight silicon, 0.3% by weight to 4% by weight copper, 0.2% by weight to 0.7% by weight magnesium, at most 1% by weight iron, at most 0.5% by weight zirconium, and a remainder which includes aluminum and further accompanying elements and/or production-related impurities that each have a mass fraction of at most 0.3 percent individually and that in total have a mass fraction of at most 1.5 percent.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A component, comprising: a sub-region, wherein the component is produced at least in the sub-region by an additive manufacturing process; wherein the sub-region is produced from an aluminum alloy which comprises: 12% by weight to 40% by weight silicon; 0.3% by weight to 4% by weight copper; 0.2% by weight to 0.7% by weight magnesium; at most 1% by weight iron; at most 0.5% by weight zirconium; and a remainder which comprises aluminum and further accompanying elements and/or production-related impurities that each have a mass fraction of at most 0.3 percent individually and that in total have a mass fraction of at most 1.5 percent.

12. The component according to claim 11, wherein the aluminum alloy has from 0.5% by weight to 0.8% by weight copper.

13. The component according to claim 11, wherein the aluminum alloy has 0.2% by weight to 0.5% by weight magnesium.

14. The component according to claim 11, wherein the aluminum alloy has at least 0.05% by weight and a maximum of 0.35% by weight of zirconium.

15. The component according to claim 11, wherein the aluminum alloy has a maximum of 0.35% by weight iron.

16. The component according to claim 11, wherein the component is at least partially heat-treated.

17. The component according to claim 16, wherein the component is at least partially stress-relief annealed and/or solution-annealed and/or artificially aged.

18. The component according to claim 11, wherein the aluminum alloy has 13.5% by weight to 15.5% by weight of silicon.

19. A method for producing a component, comprising the steps of: providing a powder or a wire, wherein the powder or the wire is formed from an aluminum alloy which comprises: 12% by weight to 40% by weight silicon; 0.3% by weight to 4% by weight copper; 0.2% by weight to 0.7% by weight magnesium; at most 1% by weight iron; at most 0.5% by weight zirconium; and a remainder which comprises aluminum and further accompanying elements and/or production-related impurities that each have a mass fraction of at most 0.3 percent individually and that in total have a mass fraction of at most 1.5 percent; and producing at least a sub-region of the component from the powder or the wire by an additive manufacturing process.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising the step of subjecting the component at least in the sub-region to at least one heat treatment process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a component according to the invention; and

[0032] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing the component according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] FIG. 1 shows, in a schematic side view, a component 10, in particular for a vehicle such as a motor vehicle, for example. The component 10 is, for example, a component of an internal combustion engine, by means of which the motor vehicle can be driven. The internal combustion engine is preferably a reciprocating engine. The component 10 can be a crankcase of the internal combustion engine, for example. In order to implement particularly advantageous properties of the component 10 and to manufacture the component 10 particularly advantageously, at least one sub-region TB of the component 10 is manufactured from an aluminum alloy by means of an additive manufacturing process and thus in an additive manner. In particular, it is conceivable that the component 10 is completely manufactured by means of a or by means of the additive manufacturing process. Alternatively or additionally, it is conceivable that the component 10 is completely manufactured from the aforementioned aluminum alloy. Alternatively, it is also imaginable that the component 10 is manufactured in sections or completely by using multiple additive manufacturing processes. The aluminum alloy is also referred to as an aluminum-based alloy and has 12% by weight to 40% per weight silicon as the first component, 0.3% by weight to 4% by weight copper as the second component, 0.2% by weight to 0.7% by weight magnesium as the third component, a maximum of 1% by weight iron as the fourth component and a maximum of 0.5% by weight zirconium as the fifth component. The components are alloying elements in each case, wherein the first component has a mass fraction which is in a range of from 12 percent to 40 percent inclusive. The second component has a mass fraction which is in a range of from 0.3 percent to 4 percent inclusive. The third component has a mass fraction which is in a range of from 0.2 percent to 0.7 percent inclusive. The fourth component has a mass fraction which is at most or maximally 1 percent. The fifth component has a mass fraction which is at most or maximally 0.5 percent. As the remainder, the aluminum alloy has aluminum with a maximum of 0.3% by weight individually in each case and a maximum of 1.5% by weight in total of production-related impurities. In other words, the production-related impurities each have a mass fraction of at most 0.3 percent individually and overall, i.e., in total, a mass fraction of at most 1.5 percent.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram, on the basis of which a method for producing the component 10 is illustrated below. In a first step S1 of the method, a starting material is provided. This starting material is referred to simply as material, substance or starting substance. The starting material is a wire or a powder, such that in the first step S1 of the method, the wire or the powder is provided. The starting material is formed from the aforementioned aluminum alloy, such that in the first step S1 of the method, the aforementioned aluminum alloy is provided in wire or powder form.

[0035] In a second step S2 of the method, at least the sub-region TB of the component 10 is produced from the starting material, i.e., from the powder or from the wire by means of the aforementioned additive manufacturing process. This means that, in the second step S2 of the method, the additive manufacturing process is carried out. By means of the additive manufacturing process, the component 10 is additively manufactured, i.e., additively produced, from the aluminum alloy at least in the sub-region TB.

[0036] During or after the second step S2, the component 10 is provided, which is or was manufactured completely or at least partially by means of the additive manufacturing process. The additive manufacturing process is, for example, a process selected from the following group: selective laser melting, selective electron beam melting, selective laser sintering, selective electron beam sintering, wire build-up welding and power build-up welding. It is also conceivable to combine several additive manufacturing processes from the aforementioned group.

[0037] After the second step S2 of the method, in particular after providing the component 10, a third step S3 of the method is preferably and thus optionally carried out. In the third step S3 of the method, the component 10 is subjected at least partially, in particular at least in the sub-region TB, at least or exactly to a heat treatment process. A heat treatment process may be stress relief annealing, or the heat treatment process can be stress relief annealing. In the stress relief annealing, the component 10 is at least partially annealed at a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius to 350 degrees Celsius for a period of time of 30 minutes to 5 hours, particularly preferably with optional subsequent slow cooling, to achieve a stress-relief annealed state of the component 10. Through this, the component 10 can be implemented as a soft component with high elongation at break, i.e., with high deformability and/or low irreversible thermal expansion.

[0038] By way of example, as an alternative to stress relief annealing, solution annealing can be carried out with subsequent artificial ageing. The artificial ageing is also referred to as artificial ageing treatment. In other words, it is preferably provided that the heat treatment process alternatively comprises solution annealing and subsequent artificial ageing. In the solution annealing, the component 10 is at least partially annealed at a temperature of from 450 degrees Celsius to 545 degrees Celsius for a period of up to 12 hours, particularly preferably followed by rapid cooling or quenching of the component 10 to produce a supersaturated solid solution as a prerequisite for effective artificial ageing thereafter. After solution annealing, the aforementioned artificial ageing of the component 10 for precipitation hardening takes place. By way of example, the component 10 is artificially aged at a temperature of from 150 degrees Celsius to 240 degrees Celsius for a period of 30 minutes to 12 hours. One objective may be to implement a high static strength and/or a high dynamic strength of the component 10, for example in the maximum hardened state T6. Another objective may be to implement a reduced strength of the component 10 compared to the one objective, but with lower irreversible thermal expansion, in particular in the overaged state T7.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0039] 10 component [0040] S1 first step [0041] S2 second step [0042] S3 third step [0043] TB sub-region