ETD

• additive manufacturing
• mechanical properties
• microstructural analysis
• morphology analysis

This thesis focuses on developing the laser powder bed fusion process of an Al-Cu alloy reinforced with titanium diboride. The objective is to evaluate the influence of individual process parameters on the material's morphology; to achieve the lowest possible porosity and absence of surface imperfections in the produced components.

Starting from a thorough study of the literature concerning the production by L-PBF of aluminum alloys, the most influential parameters were selected among the many characterizing this production process and the ranges within which these should fall.
With these notions, a DOE was constructed that would provide a broader spectrum of information about the correlation between process parameters and material constituent characteristics. By then making metallurgical specimens on which metallographic analyses were performed, the range of variation of the printing parameters was narrowed, eventually reaching porosities of less than 0.1 percent.
Similar to the improvement of relative material density, a campaign of analysis of surface roughness and morphologies of the produced specimens was completed.
Finally, samples were prepared for static and fatigue characterization of material strength using the best parameters obtained.

Future developments could include improving the porosity and surface finish achieved so far, refining the heat treatment to increase the material's mechanical properties, and finally optimizing the productivity of the process.