Thin walls of an AZ91 magnesium alloy with fine equiaxed grains were fabricated via cold arc-based wire arc additive manufacturing(CA-WAAM),and the droplet transfer behaviours,microstructures,and mechanical properties were investigated.The results showed that the cold arc process reduced splashing at the moment of liquid bridge breakage and effectively shortened the droplet transfer period.The microstructures of the deposited samples exhibited layered characteristics with alternating distributions of coarse and fine grains.During layer-by-layer deposition,the β-phase precipitated and grew preferentially along grain boundaries,while the fineη-Al_(8)Mn_(5)phase was dispersed in the α-Mg matrix.The mechanical properties of the CA-WAAM deposited sample showed isotropic characteristics.The ultimate tensile strength and elongation in the building direction(BD)were 282.7 MPa and 14.2%,respectively.The microhardness values of the deposited parts were relatively uniform,with an average value of HV 69.6.
Bai-hao CAIJi-kang FANJie LIDong-qing YANGYong PENGKe-hong WANG
Mg alloys have the defects of low stiffness,low strength,and high coefficient of thermal expansion(CTE).The composites strategy and its architecture design are effective approaches to improve the comprehensive performance of materials,but the processing difficulty,especially in ceramics forming,limits the control and innovation of material architecture.Here,combined with 3D printing and squeeze infiltration technology,two precisely controllable architectures of AZ91/Al_(2)O_(3)interpenetrating phase composites(IPC)with ceramic scaffold were prepared.The interface,properties and impact of different architecture on IPC performance were studied by experiments and finite element simulation.The metallurgical bonding of the interface was realized with the formation of MgAl_(2)O_(4)reaction layer.The IPC with 1 mm circular hole scaffold(1C-IPC)exhibited significantly improved elastic modulus of 164 GPa,high compressive strength of 680 MPa,and good CTE of 12.91×10^(-6)K^(−1),which were 3.64 times,1.98 times and 55%of the Mg matrix,respectively.Their elastic modulus,compressive strength,and CTE were superior to the vast majority of Mg alloys and Mg based composites.The reinforcement and matrix were bicontinuous and interpenetrating each other,which played a critical role in ensuring the potent strengthening effect of the Al_(2)O_(3)reinforcement by efficient load transfer.Under the same volume fraction of reinforcements,compared to IPC with 1 mm hexagonal hole scaffold(1H-IPC),the elastic modulus and compressive strength of 1C-IPC increased by 15%and 28%,respectively,which was due to the reduced stress concentration and more uniform stress distribution of 1C-IPC.It shows great potential of architecture design in improving the performance of composites.This study provides architectural design strategy and feasible preparation method for the development of high performance materials.
