The laser-based powder bed fusion (LBPF) process or commonly known as selective laser melting (SLM) has made significant progress since its inception. Initially, conventional materials like 316L, Ti6Al4V, and IN-718 were fabricated using the SLM process. However, it was inevitable to explore the possible fabrication of the second most popular structural material after Fe-based alloys/steel, the Al-based alloys by SLM. Al-based alloys exhibit some inherent difficulties due to the following factors: the presence of surface oxide layer, solidification cracking during melt cooling, high reflectivity from the surface, the high thermal conductivity of the metal, poor flowability of the powder, low melting temperature, etc. Researchers have overcome these difficulties to successfully fabricate the different Al-based alloys by SLM. However, there exists no review dealing with the fabrication of different Al-based alloys by SLM, their fabrication issues, microstructure, and their correlation with properties in detail. Hence, the present review attempts to introduce the SLM process followed by a detailed discussion about the processing parameters that form the core of the alloy development process. This is followed by the current research status on the processing of Al-based alloys and microstructure evaluation (including defects, internal stresses, etc.), which are dealt with on the basis of individual Al-based series. The mechanical properties of these alloys are discussed in detail followed by the other important properties like tribological properties, fatigue properties, etc. Lastly, an outlook is given at the end of this review.
The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of Si and SiC addition on the microstructure, mechanical, and corrosion properties of Al matrix-based composites. Al–Si (2 wt% fixed) alloy reinforced SiC composites were prepared by stir-casting process using SiC reinforcement contents from 0 to 20 wt% at an interval of 5%. A uniform dispersion of SiC particles in the Al matrix was observed from the scanning electron microscopic analysis. Maximum hardness is found for composites having 15 wt% reinforcement content. Pin-on-disc wear test reveals that SiC particles increase the wear resistance of composites. Corrosion test reveals that composites reinforced with 20% reinforcement content shows the minimum i corr among all the compositions, attributing to the maximum corrosion resistance. Tribological and corrosion behaviour were found to be dependent on the reinforcement content. However, they were not interdependent on each other. It is expected that the present study would be helpful in the development of lightweight composites for aerospace and shipping industries applications.
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