Study on the effects of manufacturing parameters on the dynamic properties of AlSi10Mg under dynamic loads using Taguchi procedure

This study presents the effect of additive manufacturing (AM) laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) on the dynamic properties of an AlSi10Mg alloy. AlSi10Mg products manufactured using the LPBF process allow tailoring the dynamic properties to the needs of applications. Hence, we created a design of experiments based on the Taguchi method to study the effects of the most influential LPBF process parameters. The chosen parameters were laser power, scanning speed, hatching distance, scanning pattern, and fabrication orientation. Using a split Hopkinson pressure bar experimental system, the maximum dynamic stress (MDS) and elongation until fracture were characterized. The dynamic properties were significantly affected: up to a 30% increase in the MDS, without a reduction in elongation was observed. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the fabrication orientation significantly influences the dynamic properties. This study quantitatively correlates the macrostructure of the melt pools and their dynamic properties. There is a close to linear dependency between the crack path following the melt pool boundaries to the MDS. The results obtained from this study can assist engineers in estimating their dynamic response to materials by analyzing the LPBF AlSi10Mg macrostructure.