LPBF-Formed 2024Al Alloys: Process, Microstructure, Properties, and Thermal Cracking Behavior

Abstract

2024Al is an Al-Cu-Mg series heat-treatable aluminum alloy with high strength and excellent damage resistance. To obtain a high-performance target component of LPBF-formed 2024Al, the effect of process parameters on density, microstructure, and performance is systematically investigated and the thermal cracking phenomenon is analyzed in detail. The results reveal that the optimization of process parameters can suppress the cracks generated during the LPBF forming of 2024Al to a certain extent. When the laser energy density is 741 J/mm3, the maximum density reaches 99.77%, whereas the tensile strength and elongation reach 330 ± 7 MPa and 9 ± 0.6%, respectively. Owing to the high Cu and Mg contents in 2024Al, the transverse strain rate of columnar grains during LPBF forming is easily higher than the sum of the transverse expansion rate of grains and the liquid phase filling rate at grain boundaries, resulting in strong thermal crack sensitivity. In addition, an extremely high cooling rate (−108 K/s) and heat input during LPBF forming reduce the liquid phase filling rate at grain boundaries to further aggravate the thermal cracking tendency. The current study provides experimental guidance for the preparation of high-quality, crack-less, or even crack-free 2024Al alloys.