The Effect of Heat Treatment of AlSi10Mg on the Energy Absorption Performance of Surface-Based Structures

Additive Manufacturing of cellular lattice structures offers opportunities to fine-tune the mechanical response by altering geometric variables. It is known that heat treatment cycles provide an effective way of altering mechanical properties while relieving residual stress. By exploiting the combined influence of these two variables, this study demonstrates the possibility of optimising energy absorption in AlSi10Mg honeycomb lattice structures, manufactured using selective laser melting. This finding indicates that heat treatment and powder quality have a significant influence on the mechanical response of the honeycomb. Additionally, this highlights the opportunity to establish an energy absorption diagram, via mapping the relative performance of variable lattice geometries and heat treatment cycles. At the same time, the consistency of powder quality can be tightly controlled.