Hot Impression Creep Behavior of AlSi10Mg Alloy Fabricated through SLM Route

AlSi10Mg alloy is very popular in the aerospace and automotive industries due to its high specific strength and thermal conductivity. Additive manufacturing is most widely used production technique to manufacture any complex shapes and it gives better properties as compared to cast products. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is one of the most widely adopted technique used to develop components of AlSi10Mg alloy. AlSi10Mg of 10 mm height and 15 mm diameter cylindrical samples have been fabricated through SLM route and subsequently solutionised at 520 degrees C for 2 h and then quenched in water. Hot impression tests have been conducted at three different loads of 55, 92, and 129 MPa at 100 degrees C with a dwell time of 4 h for both as-built and solution-treated samples. The indentation depth vs. time was plotted for each case and the creep rate was calculated. Optical microscope and scanning electron microscope were used for microstructural analysis while phase analysis was carried out by XRD. The indentation depth increased on increasing the time and then remained constant irrespective of the load. However, the depth of indentation was more for higher load. The creep rate increased with increase in applied load. AlSi10Mg alloy showed better indentation resistance in the as-built condition as compared to solution heat treated condition. Samples in the as-built condition showed higher hardness in the as-built condition than solution heat treated condition.