Surface Wear Anisotropy in AlSi10Mg Alloy Sample Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting: Effect of Hatch Style, Scan Rotation and Use of Fresh and Recycled Powder

Abstract

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) has witnessed substantial growth in recent years due to its excellent manufacturing capabilities and innovative production methodologies. However, the mechanical suitability aspect in terms of material wear has not received much attention yet and needs rigorous assessment. This study investigates the wear anisotropy in an AlSi10Mg alloy sample fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) technique. Different scanning strategies encompassing the island and the continuous scanning patterns were used in sample manufacturing. The effects of the scanning vector orientation, design pattern, and the island pattern size on the mechanical wear and wear anisotropy have been analyzed in detail. The study also focused upon a comparative investigation of the wear properties at the top and the side surfaces to understand the wear anisotropy in different directions. The samples are fabricated both by the fresh and the recycled powder and the role of powder state is described. The ball-on-disk test is performed to simulate the similar contact applications for marine/automotive components such as bearings. Bearing steel balls are used as a standard sliding counterpart material to investigate the wear properties. The wear microstructure is analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. Overall, the island strategy with 2 mm hatch style and 45 deg scan rotation have achieved better wear resistance and friction coefficient compared with the continuous hatch style. The wear behavior is found to be anisotropic. The Raman spectra validate the presence of silicon and carbon particles on the wear track, which have a significant effect on the tribological properties. The type of particles present in the sliding zone characterizes different wear stages. Wear mechanism is described by considering four parameters, namely, scan pattern, scan vector rotation, type of powder, and the wear measurement direction. Results show that the surface wear rate of samples made by the fresh powder is lower than the recycled powder. However, samples of the recycled powder have friction modifier characteristics. The best wear rate and friction coefficient values are obtained with the island strategy (2 mm hatch, 45 deg scan rotation) in the side plane and are 3.76 × 10−6 mm3/N m, 0.0781, respectively.