Lightweight, high-strength aluminum alloys are used in industries from aerospace to automobile manufacturing. Most commercially available high-strength aluminum alloys cannot be used in 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, because they are susceptible to defects that could lead to deterioration.
The traditional method to alleviate defects creates aluminum alloys whose highest strength ranges from 300 to 500 megapascals, which is much lower than what steels can achieve, typically 600 to 1,000 megapascals. There has been limited success in producing high-strength aluminum alloys that also display beneficial large plastic deformability.
Purdue researchers have developed a patent-pending method to produce aluminum alloys by using several metals like cobalt, iron, nickel and titanium. These metals traditionally have been largely avoided in the manufacture of aluminum alloys.
The researchers conducted macroscale tests on the aluminum alloys they created, which revealed a combination of prominent plastic deformability and high strength, more than 900 megapascals.
Haiyan Wang and Xinghang Zhang, College of Engineering
Email: otcip@prf.org
Email: Steve Martin // sgmartin@prf.org
