Laser Powder-Bed Fusion of Aluminum-Scandium (Al-Sc) Alloys

提出的研究项目的目的是确定激光粉末床熔合各种铝钪（Al-Sc）合金的工艺-结构-性能关系。钪是一种稀土元素，是强化铝合金最有效的微合金化元素之一。它增加了铝的强度和理想的性能。添加钪是通过在凝固过程中促进合金中更小、均匀的晶粒结构而产生强度的。为了获得更好的强度响应，通常在铝中加入极少量的钪（钪含量在0.05%到0.5%之间）。该项目的主要目标是设计和制造一种具有增强强度重量比的新型Al-Sc合金，用于加拿大汽车和航空航天工业。汽车和航空航天工业需要了解使用激光增材制造生产的Al-Sc零件的机械性能。该项目是麦克马斯特的增材制造集团和帝国矿业集团有限公司（帝国）之间的合作成果。该项目的长期影响是利用Al-Sc合金增材制造技术在加拿大生产汽车和航空航天部件的额外能力。

The objective of the proposed research project is to identify the process-structure-property relationships for laser powder-bed fusion of various Aluminum-Scandium (Al-Sc) alloys. Scandium (Sc), a rare earth element, is one of the most effective microalloying elements to strengthen Al alloys. It imparts increased strength and desirable properties to aluminum. Scandium additions generate strength by promoting a smaller, homogenous grain structure in alloys during solidification. Very small quantities of Scandium (between 0.05% and 0.5% Sc) are usually added to aluminum for better strength response. The main goal of this project is to design and manufacture a new Al-Sc alloy with an enhanced strength-to-weight ratio for use by the Canadian automotive and aerospace industries. The mechanical properties of Al-Sc parts produced using laser additive manufacturing need to be known for the automotive and aerospace industries. This project is a collaborative effort between McMaster's Additive Manufacturing Group and Imperial Mining Group Ltd. (Imperial). The long-term impact of this project is the development of additional capacity to manufacture automotive and aerospace components in Canada using additive manufacturing of Al-Sc alloy.