Study on compressive property of aluminum alloy lattice structure additively manufactured by 3d printing technology

Abstract

In order to discuss the quality assurance of additively manufactured lattice structure made by aluminum alloy (AlSi10Mg) using 3D printing technology or selective laser sintering technique, compression test, micro-CT imaging and finite element analysis were carried out. The specimens were manufactured by 2 printing service companies with different expertise, which led to the choice of different process parameters such as the building direction, support structure, powder bed temperature and laser scanning speed. The largely scattered compressive peak loads were in good linear positive correlation with the weight, which is the easiest and convenient index for the quality assurance. On the other hand, the apparent density was almost the same. The reason why the weight of the products was largely scattered was investigated by micro-CT image analysis and finite element analysis. Also by comparison with the CAD data, the influence of manufacturer-dependent process parameters on the strength was discussed. ?