Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion
Strategies to prevent the failure of Al alloys usually aim to optimise composition and microstructure to minimise damage initiation and propagation. However, these are inherently limited in that any damage that nucleates will not disappear. A new liquid phase assisted healable Al-Mg alloy is designe...
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Elsevier
2025-10-01
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| Series: | Materials & Design |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525009931 |
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| author | Julie Gheysen Grzegorz Pyka Bartłomiej Winiarski Julie Villanova Florent Hannard Sophie De Raedemacker Jack Donoghue Albert Smith Aude Simar |
| author_facet | Julie Gheysen Grzegorz Pyka Bartłomiej Winiarski Julie Villanova Florent Hannard Sophie De Raedemacker Jack Donoghue Albert Smith Aude Simar |
| author_sort | Julie Gheysen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Strategies to prevent the failure of Al alloys usually aim to optimise composition and microstructure to minimise damage initiation and propagation. However, these are inherently limited in that any damage that nucleates will not disappear. A new liquid phase assisted healable Al-Mg alloy is designed. Its microstructure is composed of a network of a lower melting point eutectic phase distributed within a higher melting point matrix. After damage, a healing heat treatment is applied at a temperature higher than the solidus temperature leading to liquid flow towards the damage sites and their welding. The matrix remains solid maintaining the structural integrity of the component. Correlative tomography combining insights from different 3D electron and X-ray nano-imaging techniques on the same volume of interest before and after healing, highlighted the complete healing and welding of voids and cracks up to 2 µm within the Al-Mg alloy. While softening mechanisms are typically associated with heat treatments of Al alloys, this Al-Mg alloy also maintains strength and ductility after healing heat treatment. This promising concept to increase parts lifetime has potential to be extendable to other non-eutectic 3D printed alloys. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e635f150f3c84611ad01e4ac6d3a2133 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0264-1275 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials & Design |
| spelling | doaj-art-e635f150f3c84611ad01e4ac6d3a21332025-08-22T04:54:53ZengElsevierMaterials & Design0264-12752025-10-0125811457310.1016/j.matdes.2025.114573Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed FusionJulie Gheysen0Grzegorz Pyka1Bartłomiej Winiarski2Julie Villanova3Florent Hannard4Sophie De Raedemacker5Jack Donoghue6Albert Smith7Aude Simar8Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Corresponding author.Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumThermoFisher Scientific, 627 00 Brno, Czech RepublicESRF - The European Synchrotron, CS 40220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex 9, FranceInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumUniversity of Manchester, Manchester, United KingdomTESCAN-UK, Cambridge, United KingdomInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumStrategies to prevent the failure of Al alloys usually aim to optimise composition and microstructure to minimise damage initiation and propagation. However, these are inherently limited in that any damage that nucleates will not disappear. A new liquid phase assisted healable Al-Mg alloy is designed. Its microstructure is composed of a network of a lower melting point eutectic phase distributed within a higher melting point matrix. After damage, a healing heat treatment is applied at a temperature higher than the solidus temperature leading to liquid flow towards the damage sites and their welding. The matrix remains solid maintaining the structural integrity of the component. Correlative tomography combining insights from different 3D electron and X-ray nano-imaging techniques on the same volume of interest before and after healing, highlighted the complete healing and welding of voids and cracks up to 2 µm within the Al-Mg alloy. While softening mechanisms are typically associated with heat treatments of Al alloys, this Al-Mg alloy also maintains strength and ductility after healing heat treatment. This promising concept to increase parts lifetime has potential to be extendable to other non-eutectic 3D printed alloys.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525009931Self-healingAluminium alloysAdditive manufacturingLiquid assisted healable alloysCorrelative tomography |
| spellingShingle | Julie Gheysen Grzegorz Pyka Bartłomiej Winiarski Julie Villanova Florent Hannard Sophie De Raedemacker Jack Donoghue Albert Smith Aude Simar Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion Materials & Design Self-healing Aluminium alloys Additive manufacturing Liquid assisted healable alloys Correlative tomography |
| title | Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion |
| title_full | Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion |
| title_fullStr | Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion |
| title_short | Development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium-magnesium alloy processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion |
| title_sort | development and characterisation of a liquid phase assisted healable aluminium magnesium alloy processed by laser powder bed fusion |
| topic | Self-healing Aluminium alloys Additive manufacturing Liquid assisted healable alloys Correlative tomography |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525009931 |
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