Laser fusion of aluminum powder coated with diamond particles via selective laser melting: Powder preparation and synthesis description

Abstract

This work aims to study the possibility of obtaining Al–C composite from AlSi10MgCu aluminum matrix with the addition of 500 nm-sized diamond particles by selective laser melting (SLM) process. Al–C composite powder was prepared by mechanical mixing to form a uniform cover along the surface of aluminum particles. The diamond content in the resulting AlSi10MgCudiamond composite powder was equal to 0.67 wt %. The selection of the optimal SLM parameters for the obtained composite material is presented. For materials characterization, the following methods were used: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Xray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied after SLM printing for a detailed investigation of the obtained composites. The presence of carbon additives and the formation of aluminum carbides in the material after the SLM process were demonstrated.