FATIGUE LIFE OF LASER POWDER BED FUSION (L-PBF) ALSI10MG ALLOY: EFFECTS OF SURFACE ROUGHNESS AND POROSITY

The fatigue life of components manufactured by the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process is dominated by the presence of defects, such as surface roughness and internal porosity. The present study focuses on the relative effect of surface roughness and porosity in determining the fatigue properties of AlSi10Mg alloy produced by L-PBF built in the Z direction for as-built (ASB), machined (M) and machined & polished (M&P) conditions. As-built L-PBF samples possess higher surface roughness (1.5-2 µm) compared to the machined (0.8-1.0 µm) or polished ones (0.3-0.75 µm). For ASB samples, surface roughness was found to be the dominant factor affecting fatigue life. However, for M or M&P samples with relatively low surface roughness, the subsurface porosity becomes the dominant factor affecting fatigue failure rather than variations in the surface roughness. The pore size and location effects are analysed using linear elastic fracture mechanics theory, and the critical stress intensity factors (SIF) for L-PBF AlSi10Mg alloy samples are estimated.
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