Material Properties of AS7G06 Aerospace Components Built using Selective Laser Melting

AlSi7Mg0.6 aluminium alloy, generally known as AS7G06 (BSI) is typically used as a casting alloy in a wide range of applications such as railway, automotive, aerospace and armament industries. Although, a wide range of literature covers and discusses its mechanical and metallurgical properties in the form of cast ingots and components, very little is known of its behaviour during and after Selective Laser Melting (SLM). This lack of extensive statistical data represents the single biggest limitation to reliably design and build aerospace components using SLM. To assist the commercial adoption of SLMed AS7G06 components, it is essential to develop and certify exhaustive processing parameters maps reflecting the unique characteristics of SLM.

In this paper, we present a comprehensive and systematic density and mechanical parameters study of AlSi7Mg0.6 components manufactured using SLM. Typical mechanical properties of AlSi7Mg06 components such as tensile properties, fatigue behaviour and cracks initiation behaviour are explored. Investigations into corrosion performance are also carried out. The result is a SLM-specific material data matrix that reflects the process specificities (high local thermal gradients, high-rate solidification, thermal cycling) and material properties dependence with fine micro-structure. In addition to adopting new SLM-specific design rules, this data will improve production yield and aerospace component quality.