Starting material, use thereof, and additive manufacturing process using said starting material

Abstract

An Al—Mg-based or Al—Mg—Si-based or Al—Zn-based or Al—Si-based starting material in the form of a powder or wire for an additive manufacturing process, the use thereof, and an additive manufacturing process using this starting material are disclosed.

Claims

1. An Al—Mg-based starting material in the form of a powder or wire for an additive manufacturing process, consisting of: from 0.6 to 1.5 wt % iron (Fe), at most 0.9 wt % manganese (Mn), 2 to 7 wt % magnesium (Mg), and optionally 0.05 to 2.5 wt % copper (Cu), optionally 0.05 to 12 wt % silicon (Si), and optionally 0.1 to 8 wt % zinc (Zn); wherein the content of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) together is from 0.7 to 2.1 wt % and fulfills an ordering relation $\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mn}\right)>A+\frac{0.15}{\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Fe}\right)}$ $\mathrm{with}$ $A=2000*{\left(\frac{\mathrm{TLfcc}}{575}-1\right)}^4$ $\mathrm{TLfcc}=660-6.6*\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Si}\right)-5.3*\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mg}\right)-3.6*\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Cu}\right)-2*\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Zn}\right),$ and optionally having 0.1 to 2 wt % erbium (Er), 0.1 to 3 wt % lithium (Li), 0 to 2 wt % nickel (Ni), 0 to 1 wt % silver (Ag), beryllium (Be), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), zirconium (Zr), tantalum (Ta), yttrium (Y) individually or in a combination; and residual aluminum (Al) and inevitable manufacturing induced impurities each having a maximum of 0.05% by weight and a total of at most 0.15% by weight.

2. The starting material according to claim 1, wherein the starting material has from 0.8 to 1.2 wt % Fe.

3. The starting material according to claim 1, wherein the starting material contains 3 to 5 wt % Mg and 0.2 to 2 wt % Er.

4. An additive manufacturing process comprising using the starting material according to claim 1.

5. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 4, comprising producing a molded body or component layer by layer from the starting material by locally melting the starting material with a laser beam.

6. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 4, comprising using selective laser melting.

7. An Al—Mg—Si-based starting material in the form of a powder or wire for an additive manufacturing process, consisting of: from 0.6 to 1.5 wt % iron (Fe), at most 0.9 wt % manganese (Mn), 0.3 to 2 wt % magnesium (Mg), and 0.05 to 1.5 wt % silicon (Si), optionally 0.05 to 2.5 wt % copper (Cu), optionally 0.1 to 8 wt % zinc (Zn); wherein the content of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) together is from 0.7 to 2.1 wt % and fulfills an ordering relation $\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mn}\right)>A+\frac{0.15}{\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Fe}\right)}$ $\mathrm{with}$ $A=2000\star {\left(\frac{\mathrm{TLfcc}}{575}-1\right)}^4$ $\mathrm{TLfcc}=660-6.6\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Si}\right)-5.3\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mg}\right)-3.6\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Cu}\right)-2\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Zn}\right),$ and optionally having 0.1 to 2 wt % erbium (Er), 0.1 to 3 wt % lithium (Li), 0 to 2 wt % nickel (Ni), 0 to 1 wt % silver (Ag), beryllium (Be), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), zirconium (Zr), tantalum (Ta), yttrium (Y) individually or in a combination; and residual aluminum (Al) and inevitable manufacturing induced impurities each having a maximum of 0.05% by weight and a total of at most 0.15% by weight.

8. The starting material according to claim 7, wherein the starting material contains 0.3 to 1.2 wt % Mg and 0.5 to 1.2 wt % Si.

9. The starting material according to claim 7, wherein the starting material has from 0.8 to 1.2 wt % Fe.

10. An Al—Zn-based starting material in the form of a powder or wire for an additive manufacturing process, consisting of: from 0.6 to 1.5 wt % iron (Fe), at most 0.9 wt % manganese (Mn), 1 to 8 wt % zinc (Zn), 1.0 to 3 wt % magnesium (Mg), and 0.05 to 1.5 wt % silicon (Si), optionally 0.05 to 2.5 wt % copper (Cu); wherein the content of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) together is from 0.7 to 2.1 wt % and fulfills an ordering relation $\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mn}\right)>A+\frac{0.15}{\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Fe}\right)}$ $\mathrm{with}$ $A=2000\star {\left(\frac{\mathrm{TLfcc}}{575}-1\right)}^4$ $\mathrm{TLfcc}=660-6.6\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Si}\right)-5.3\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mg}\right)-3.6\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Cu}\right)-2\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Zn}\right),$ and optionally having 0.1 to 2 wt % erbium (Er), 0.1 to 3 wt % lithium (Li), 0 to 2 wt % nickel (Ni), 0 to 1 wt % silver (Ag), beryllium (Be), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), zirconium (Zr), tantalum (Ta), yttrium (Y) individually or in a combination; and residual aluminum (Al) and inevitable manufacturing induced impurities each having a maximum of 0.05% by weight and a total of at most 0.15% by weight.

11. The starting material according to claim 10, wherein the starting material contains 4.5 to 8 wt % Zn.

12. The starting material according to claim 10, wherein the starting material has from 0.8 to 1.2 wt % Fe.

13. An Al—Si-based starting material in the form of a powder or wire for an additive manufacturing process, consisting of: from 0.6 to 1.5 wt % iron (Fe), at most 0.9 wt % manganese (Mn), 5 to 11 wt % silicon (Si), optionally 0.1 to 8 wt % zinc (Zn), optionally 0.1 to 7 wt % magnesium (Mg), and optionally 0.05 to 2.5 wt % copper (Cu); wherein the content of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) fulfills an ordering relation $\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mn}\right)>A+\frac{0.15}{\left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Fe}\right)}$ $\mathrm{with}$ $A=2000\star {\left(\frac{\mathrm{TLfcc}}{575}-1\right)}^4$ $\mathrm{TLfcc}=660-6.6\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Si}\right)-5.3\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Mg}\right)-3.6\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Cu}\right)-2\star \left(\mathrm{wt}\%\mathrm{Zn}\right),$ and optionally having 0.1 to 2 wt % erbium (Er), 0.1 to 3 wt % lithium (Li), 0 to 2 wt % nickel (Ni), 0 to 1 wt % silver (Ag), beryllium (Be), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), zirconium (Zr), tantalum (Ta), yttrium (Y) individually or in a combination; and residual aluminum (Al) and inevitable manufacturing induced impurities each having a maximum of 0.05% by weight and a total of at most 0.15% by weight.

14. The starting material according to claim 13, wherein the starting material has from 0.8 to 1.2 wt % Fe.

15. An additive manufacturing process comprising using the starting material according to claim 7.

16. An additive manufacturing process comprising using the starting material according to claim 10.

17. An additive manufacturing process comprising using the starting material according to claim 13.

18. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 15, comprising producing a molded body or component layer by layer from the starting material by locally melting the starting material with a laser beam.

19. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 15, comprising using selective laser melting.

20. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 16, comprising producing a molded body or component layer by layer from the starting material by locally melting the starting material with a laser beam.

21. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 16, comprising using selective laser melting.

22. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 17, comprising producing a molded body or component layer by layer from the starting material by locally melting the starting material with a laser beam.

23. The additive manufacturing process according to claim 17, comprising using selective laser melting.

Description

WAYS TO EMBODY THE INVENTION

(1) To prove the achieved effects, molded bodies were manufactured form various powdered starting materials according to Table 1 with the aid of SLM (selective laser melting) as a powder bed-based additive manufacturing process—namely in the form of a cubic die.

(2) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Powder starting materials 1 to 9 Powder starting materials/contents in [wt %] Basis Mn Sc Zr Fe Si Cu Zn Cr 1 Al—Mg 4.7 0.54 0.01 0.45 0.06 2 Al—Mg 4.9 0.55 0.51 0.47 0.14 3 Al—Mg 4.5 0.55 0.50 0.45 0.60 4 Al—Si 0.36 0.11 10.1 5 Al—Si 0.36 0.3 1 10.1 6 Al—Mg—Si 1.15 0.65 0.22 0.75 0.35 0.2 0.1 7 Al—Mg—Si 1.18 0.65 0.95 0.79 0.38 0.2 0.1 8 Al—Zn 2.65 0.3 0.11 0.1 1.6 5.8 0.22 9 Al—Zn 2.66 0.3 1.1 0.1 1.6 5.9 0.23

(3) Powder starting materials 1 to 9, in addition to the alloy elements listed in Table 1, contain residual Al and manufacture-dictated inevitable impurities, each comprising at most 0.05 wt % and all together comprising at most 0.15 wt %. The respective upper limit of at most 0.05 wt % also applies to the alloy elements listed in Table 1 whose contents are not indicated.

(4) According to the ordering relation shown in claim 1, for powdered starting materials 1 to 9, the parameters A and TLfcc and the minimum content of Mn are calculated as follows:

(5) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Parameter A, TLfcc, and minimum content of Mn Powder starting Mn materials TLfcc A [wt %]> 1 635 0.24 2.74 2 634 0.22 1.29 3 636 0.26 0.51 4 591 0.001 1.36 5 591 0.001 0.15 6 647 0.494 1.18 7 647 0.485 0.64 8 628 0.144 1.51 9 628 0.141 028

(6) Al—Mg-Based Starting Material:

(7) According to Table 2, with regard to the Al—Mg-based starting materials 1, 2, and 3, it is clear that only powdered starting material 3, which contains 0.55 wt % Mn, fulfills the ordering relation according to claim 1 because its Mn content is higher than the Mn content stipulated by Table 2.

(8) The individual powdered starting materials 1, 2, and 3 were each completely melted using selective laser melting with an energy density (ED) of 200 J/mm3. An Nd:YAG laser with a laser power of 200 to 400 W, a beam diameter of less than 1 mm, a sampling rate/scanning speed of 250 mm/s, and a powder layer thickness (Δz) of 30 μm were used for this. The molded bodies were each produced layer by layer through local melting of the powdered starting material 1, 2, and 3 according to Table 1 with a grain of approx. 30-45 μm. The scan spacing (also referred to as hatch distance) (Δys) of 135 μm was selected for each layer.

(9) Al—Si-Based Starting Material:

(10) According to the Al—Si-based powdered starting materials 4 and 5 listed in Table 2, only the powdered starting materials 5 that contain 0.3 wt % Mn fulfill the ordering relation according to claim 1 because their Mn content is higher than the Mn content stipulated by Table 2.

(11) The individual powdered starting materials 4 and 5 were each melted with selective laser melting using a Yb:YAG laser with a laser power of 200 W and a sampling rate/scanning speed of 500 mm/s. The molded bodies 4 and 5 were each produced layer by layer through local melting of the powdered starting material according to Table 1 with a grain of approx. 20-45 μm.

(12) Al—Mg—Si-Based Starting Material:

(13) According to Table 2, with regard to the Al—Mg—Si-based starting materials 6 and 7, it is clear that only the powdered starting material 7 that contains 0.65 wt % Mn fulfills the ordering relation according to claim 1 because its Mn content is higher than the Mn content stipulated by Table 2.

(14) The individual powdered starting materials 6 and 7 were each melted with selective laser melting using a Yb:YAG laser with a laser power of 200 W and a sampling rate/scanning speed of 500 mm/s. The molded bodies 6 and 7 were each produced layer by layer through local melting of the powdered starting material according to Table 1 with a grain of approx. 20-45 μm.

(15) Al—Zn-Based Starting Material:

(16) According to Table 2, with regard to the Al—Zn-based starting materials 8 and 9, it is clear that only the powdered starting material 9 that contains 0.3 wt % Mn fulfills the ordering relation according to claim 1 because its Mn content is higher than the Mn content stipulated by Table 2.

(17) The individual powdered starting materials 8 and 9 were each melted with selective laser melting using a Yb:YAG laser with a laser power of 200 W and a sampling rate/scanning speed of 500 mm/s. The molded bodies 8 and 9 were each produced layer by layer through local melting of the powdered starting material according to Table 1 with a grain of approx. 20-45 μm.

(18) The powdered starting materials 3, 5, 7, and 9 therefore constitute embodiments according to the invention.

(19) The properties of the molded bodies thus achieved are listed in Table 2 below.

(20) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Characteristic values of molded bodies manufactured from the powdered starting materials Molded bodies Hard- made of powdered ness Rm A Porosity Hot starting material HV3 [MPa] [%] [%] cracks 1 73 270 9.0 >4 >400 μm 2 74 274 10.5 >3.5 >200 μm 3 105 370 19.5 <2  <30 μm 4 116 430 7 >0.5  >50 μm 5 130 480 14 <0.5  <30 μm 6 108 315 17.5 >3 >350 μm 7 116 340 23.5 <1.5 <100 μm 8 173 570 9.5 >4.5 >500 μm 9 181 595 11.5 <3 <180 μm

(21) According to the invention Table 3, the molded bodies made of the powdered starting materials 1 and 2 had a significantly lower hardness compared to the molded body made of the powdered starting material 3 according to the invention—which is also reflected in a reduced tensile strength Rm and reduced ultimate elongation A. It was also possible to prove that molded bodies made of powdered starting material 3 can be manufactured by means of the selective laser melting method without hot cracking. These molded bodies also exhibited a lower porosity.

(22) The porosity of the molded bodies was determined according to Archimedes' principle (hydrostatic scale).

(23) A comparable result can also be observed with regard to the molded bodies made of the powdered starting materials 4 and 5; the powdered starting materials 7 and 8; and the powdered starting materials 8 and 9. Here, too, the same improved characteristic values of the molded body made of the powdered starting material 5, 8, and 9, respectively, with regard to tensile strength Rm, ultimate elongation A, freedom from hot cracking, and porosity.

(24) Suitable lasers for the additive manufacturing process, depending on the radiation-absorbing properties of the powder used, also include CO2 lasers, diode lasers, etc. In general, it should be noted that “in particular” is to be understood as an example.