FRACTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF EB-WELDED AlSi10Mg PRESSURE VESSELS OBTAINED BY ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Moshe Nahmany ^1,2 Adin Stern ¹ Eli Aghion ¹ Nachum Frage ¹

¹Materials Engineering Departement, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
²Materials Department, Nuclear Research Center Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

Additive Manufacturing by Selective Laser Melting (AM-SLM) of metals is becoming a proven technology for producing complex components. However, one of its current drawbacks relates to size of the obtained structures that are dictated by the limited dimensions of the printing tray. Electron Beam Welding (EBW) is a well-recognized method that can be used to join additive manufacturing products. This is mainly due to its narrow heat affected zone (HAZ), which is being generated due to the capability of this technology to provide high-density-energy beam to the workpiece.

The current work presents a fractography investigation of AlSi10Mg vessels, prepared by the AM-SLM powder-bed technique. The raw vessels were welded by EB, to fabricate air-tight vessels pairs. The joint macrostructure, as well as mechanical properties evaluation, will be presented. The outcome of the study demonstrate a viability of utilizing the EBW method for constructing air-tight and pressure vessels, prepared of AM-SLM AlSi10Mg.