CNT-reinforced AlSi10Mg composite by selective laser melting: microstructural and mechanical properties

ABSTRACT

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-AlSi10Mg composites were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The influence of CNTs on the density, microstructure, and strength of SLM CNT-AlSi10Mg composites was investigated. The addition of CNTs over 0.1 wt-% significantly damaged the density due to the high surface energy of the CNTs. The network Si eutectic had no significant difference in either the SLM AlSi10Mg alloy or the CNT-AlSi10Mg composite. Reserved CNTs with a short scale were observed in the SLM CNT(0.5 wt-%)-AlSi10Mg composite. The ultimate tensile strength of the 0.05 wt-% CNT-AlSi10Mg composite was 441.2 ± 0.9 MPa, which was higher than that of AlSi10Mg alloy. The grain boundary strengthening played an important role in the reinforcement of CNT-AlSi10Mg composite because of the refined grain.

KEYWORDS:

• Aluminium alloy
• carbon nanotubes
• selective laser melting
• grain boundary strengthening
• strength

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Congcong Zhao http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0352-3179

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1605243) and the financial support of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER) project under Grant 2014GB117000.