The Gibson-Ashby model for additively manufactured metal lattice materials: Its theoretical basis,limitations and new insights from remedies

The Gibson-Ashby (G-A) model has been instrumental in the design of additively manufactured (AM-ed) metal lattice materials or mechanical metamaterials. The first part of this work reviews the proposition and formulation of the G-A model and emphasizes that the G-A model is only applicable to low-density lattice materials with strut length-to-diameter ratios greater than 5. The second part evaluates the applicability of the G-A model to AM-ed metal lattice materials and reveals the fundamental disconnections between them. The third part assesses the deformation mechanisms of AM-ed metal lattices in relation to their strut length-to-diameter ratios and identifies that AM-ed metal lattices deform by concurrent bending, stretching, and shear, rather than just stretching or bending considered by the G-A model. Consequently, mechanical property models coupling stretching, bending and shear deformation mechanisms are developed for various lattice materials, which show high congruence with experimental data. The last part discusses new insights obtained from these remedies into the design of strong and stiff metal lattices. In particular, we recommend that the use of inclined struts be avoided.     

Solid-state additive manufacturing and repairing by cold spraying: A review

High-performance metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been extensively investigated in recent years because of its unique advantages over traditional manufacturing processes. AM has been applied to form complex components of Ti, Fe or Ni alloys. However, for other nonferrous alloys such as Al alloys, Mg alloys and Cu alloys, AM may not be appropriate because of its melting nature during processing by laser, electron beam, and/or arc. Cold spraying (CS) has been widely accepted as a promising solid-state coating technique in last decade for its mass production of high-quality metals and alloys, and/or metal matrix composites coatings. It is now recognized as a useful and powerful tool for AM, but the related research work has just started. This review summarized the literature on the state-of-the-art and problems for CS as an AM and repairing technique.     

Porosity,cracks, and mechanical properties of additively manufactured tooling alloys: a review

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are currently employed for the manufacturing of completely functional parts and have gained the attention of high-technology industries such as the aerospace, automotive, and biomedical fields. This is mainly due to their advantages in terms of low material waste and high productivity, particularly owing to the flexibility in the geometries that can be generated. In the tooling industry, specifically the manufacturing of dies and molds, AM technologies enable the generation of complex shapes, internal cooling channels, the repair of damaged dies and molds, and an improved performance of dies and molds employing multiple AM materials. In the present paper, a review of AM processes and materials applied in the tooling industry for the generation of dies and molds is addressed. AM technologies used for tooling applications and the characteristics of the materials employed in this industry are first presented. In addition, the most relevant state-of-the-art approaches are analyzed with respect to the process parameters and microstructural and mechanical properties in the processing of high-performance tooling materials used in AM processes. Concretely, studies on the AM of ferrous (maraging steels and H13 steel alloy) and non-ferrous (stellite alloys and WC alloys) tooling alloys are also analyzed.The full text can be downloaded at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-021-00365-y     

Strategy of computational predictions for mechanical behaviour of additively manufactured materials

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a new computational framework to describe the evolution of grain structure during metal additive manufacturing and to simulate an inelastic deformation of the additively manufactured material, taking into account the grain structure explicitly. A combined effect of grain structure and loading conditions on the evolution of the stress–strain state in additively manufactured specimens is investigated. The results of the research highlight the need to account for the realistic microstructure, to properly describe the mechanical behaviour of additively manufactured specimens and parts.

This is part of a thematic issue on Small Scale Mechanics - EUROMAT.     

Multi-scale defects in powder-based additively manufactured metals and alloys

Defect formation is a critical challenge for powder-based metal additive manufacturing(AM). Current understanding on the three important issues including formation mechanism, influence and control method of metal AM defects should be updated. In this review paper, multi-scale defects in AMed metals and alloys are identified and for the first time classified into three categories, including geometry related,surface integrity related and microstructural defects. In particular, the microstructural ...     

Defect hardening modeled in 2D discrete dislocation dynamics

Two-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics simulations are used to model the plastic deformation of an fcc metallic material containing large densities of defects. An obstacle model is proposed, based on the line tension concept. Increasing yield strength and hardening are obtained when the obstacle density is increased and destroyable junctions are included. A high dislocation source density is used to obtain a good dissemination of dislocations. Over 30% of the total density is stored as junctions. Slip is shown to be localized within a few intense slip bands, whatever the obstacle density. This localization is quantified as a function of the density of obstacles.     

Introducing C phase in additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V: A new oxygen-stabilized face-centred cubic solid solution with improved mechanical properties

An oxygen-rich face-centred cubic (FCC) Ti phase was engineered in the microstructure of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy via additive manufacturing using laser powder bed fusion. Designated 'C', this oxygen-rich FCC phase has a lattice parameter of 0.406 nm and exhibits an orientation relationship with the parent α′ phase as follows: (0 0 0 1)_α′//{1 1 1}_C, and ${〈1\overline{2}10〉}_{\mathrm{\alpha }\prime }$ //${〈1\overline{1}0〉}_{\mathrm{C}}$. We propose that the formation of the C phase is facilitated by the combined effect of thermal gradients, deformation induced by the martensitic transformation, and local O enrichment. This enables an in-situ phase transformation from the hexagonal close-packed α′ phase to the C phase at elevated temperatures. Our density functional theory calculations indicate that oxygen occupancy in the octahedral interstices of the FCC structure is energetically preferred to corresponding sites in the α′ phase. The in-situ mechanical testing results indicate that the presence of the FCC phase significantly increases the local yield strength from 1.2 GPa for samples with only the α′ phase to 1.9 GPa for samples comprising approximately equal volume fractions of the α′ and FCC phases. No loss of ductility was reported, demonstrating great potential for strengthening and work hardening. We discuss the formation mechanism of the FCC phase and a pathway for future microstructural design of titanium alloys by additive manufacturing.     

Enhanced tensile ductility of tungsten microwires via high-density dislocations and reduced grain boundaries

Despite being strong with many outstanding physical properties,tungsten is inherently brittle at room temperature,restricting its structural and functional applications at small scales.Here,a facile strategy has been adopted,to introduce high-density dislocations while reducing grain boundaries,through elec-tron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)-guided microfabrication of cold-drawn bulk tungsten wires.The de-signed tungsten microwire attains an ultralarge uniform tensile elongation of ～10.6％,while retains a high yield strength of ～2.4 GPa.in situ TEM tensile testing reveals that the large uniform elongation of tung-sten microwires originates from the motion of pre-existing high-density dislocations,while the subse-quent ductile fracture is attributed to crack-tip plasticity and the inhibition of grain boundary cracking.This work demonstrates the application potential of tungsten microcomponents with superior ductility and workability for micro/nanoscale mechanical,electronic,and energy systems.     

Targeted heat treatment of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V for controlled formation of Bi-lamellar microstructures

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) was utilized to produce specimens in Ti-6Al-4V,which were subjected to a bi-lamellar heat treatment,which produces microstructures consisting of primary α-lamellae and a fine secondary α-phase inside the inter-lamellar β-regions.The bi-lamellar microstructure was obtained as (i)a direct bi-lamellar heat treatment from the asbuilt condition or (ii) a bi-lamellar heat treatment preceded by a β-homogenization.For the bi-lamellar treatment with β-homogenization,cooling rates in the range 1-500 K/min were applied after homogenization in β-region followed by inter-critical annealing in the α + β region at various temperatures in the range 850-950 ℃.The microstructures were characterized using various microscopical techniques.Mechanical testing with Vickers hardness indentation and tensile testing was performed.The bi-lamellar microstructure was harder when compared to a soft fully lamellar microstructure,because of the presence of fine α-platelets inside the β-lamellae.Final low temperature ageing provided an additional hardness increase by precipitation hardening of the primary α-regions.The age hardened bi-lamellar microstructure shows a similar hardness as the very fine,as-built martensitic microstructure.The bi-lamellar microstructure has more favorable mechanical properties than the as-built condition,which has high strength,but poor ductility.After the bi-lamellar heat treatment,the elongation was improved by more than 250 ％.Due to the very high strength of the as-built condition,loss of tensile strength is unavoidable,resulting in a reduction of tensile strength of～18 ％.     

Measurement and modelling of residual stress in wire-feed additively manufactured titanium

Residual stresses were characterised in a wire-feed additively manufactured titanium alloy component. A numerical simulation based on the inherent strain method was used to model residual stresses arising from the manufacturing process. The contour method was used to experimentally determine the residual stress field. High tensile residual stresses were seen at and around the interface of the substrate and the deposited metal. Compressive residual stresses were present in the substrate and at the top of the deposit. The satisfactory correlation was achieved between the results from the numerical simulation and the contour method, except for the location of the root of the deposit. The effect of pre-heating the sample substrate on the residual stress distribution is also discussed.     

An additively manufactured Al-14.1Mg-0.47Si-0.31Sc-0.17Zr alloy with high specific strength,good thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance

A novel Al-14.1 Mg-0.47 Si-0.31 Sc-0.17 Zr alloy was applied in the printing process of selective laser melting(SLM),and the corresponding microstructural feature,phase identification,tensile properties and corrosion behavior of the Al Mg Si Sc Zr alloy were studied in detail.As fabricated at 160 W and 200 mm/s,the Mg content of bulk sample decreased to 11.7 wt%due to the element vaporization at high energy density,and the density of this additively manufactured Al Mg Si Sc Zr alloy was 2.538 g/cm³,which is4.2%8.5%lighter than that of other SLM-processed Al alloys.After heat-treated(HT)at 325℃and 6 h,the microstructure was almost unchanged with an alternate distribution of fine equiaxed crystals and coarse columnar crystals.Nano-sized Al3(Sc,Zr)and Mg₂Si phases precipitated dispersedly in the Al matrix,and the tensile strength increased from 487.6 MPa to 578.4 MPa for precipitation strengthening and fine grain strengthening.With a fine grain size of 2.53μm,an excellent corrosion resistance was obtained for the as-printed(AP)Al Mg Si Sc Zr alloy.While the corrosion resistance of HT sample decreased slightly for the formation of non-dense oxide layer and pitting corrosion induced by diffuse precipitation distribution.This SLM-printed Al Mg Si Sc Zr alloy with high specific strength,good thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance has broad prospects for the aerospace and automotive applications.     

Strategies for creating living,additively manufactured,open-cellular metal and alloy implants by promoting osseointegration,osteoinduction and vascularization: An overview

Additive manufacturing of porous, open-cellular metal or alloy implants, fabricated by laser or electron beam melting of a powder bed, is briefly reviewed in relation to optimizing biomechanical compatibility by assuring elastic (Young’s) modulus matching of proximate bone, along with corresponding pore sizes assuring osseointegration and vasculature development and migration. In addition, associated, requisite compressive and fatigue strengths for such implants are described. Strategies for optimizing osteoblast (bone cell) development and osteoinduction as well as vascularization of tissue in 3D scaffolds and tissue engineering constructs for bone repair are reviewed in relation to the biology of osteogenesis and neovascularization in bone, and the role of associated growth factors, bone morphogenic proteins, signaling molecules and the like. Prospects for infusing hydrogel/collagen matrices containing these cellular and protein components or surgically extracted intramedullary (bone marrow) concentrate/aspirate containing these biological and cell components into porous implants are discussed, as strategies for creating living implants, which over the long term would act as metal or alloy scaffolds.     

Determination of dislocation density from hardness measurements in metals

For the first time the Nix-Gao model for indentation size effect (ISE) is used to estimate the dislocation density in a metal. The estimate of dislocation density obtained by this method, using Ni as a case study, is compared with the values obtained from direct observation by transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the estimate of dislocation density from indentation hardness measurements, adjusted by the Nix-Gao model, gives values consistent with those obtained by TEM, provided that the proper procedures to minimize errors are adopted. Although the direct observation of dislocations by TEM gives additional structural information, the indirect method to estimate dislocation density based on hardness measurements is more efficient, since the sample preparation method, measurement procedure and analysis of results are easier and faster.     

Strain hardening in nanolayered thin films

Experimental results indicate that metal–ceramic multilayered thin films have unusual properties such as high strength, measurable plasticity and high strain hardening rate when both layers are nanoscale. Furthermore, the strength and strain hardening rate show a pronounced size effect, depending not only on the layer thickness but also on the layer thickness ratio. We analyze the strain hardening behavior of nanoscale multilayers using a three-dimensional crystal elastic–plastic model (3DCEPM) that describes plastic deformation based on the evolution of dislocation density in metal and ceramic layers according to confined layer slip mechanism. These glide dislocations nucleate at interfaces, glide inside layers and are deposited at interfaces that impede slip transmission. The high strain hardening rate is ascribed to the closely spaced dislocation arrays deposited at interfaces and the load transfer that is related to the layer thickness ratio of metal and ceramic layers. The measurable plasticity implies the plastically deformable ceramic layer in which the dislocation activity is facilitated by the interaction force among the deposited dislocations within interface and in turn is strongly related to the ceramic layer thickness.     

Strong and ductile Mg alloys developed by dislocation engineering

Dislocation engineering concept has been successfully employed to tackle the strength-ductility trade-off in steels, resulting in the development of high-strength high-ductility deformed and partitioned (D&P) steel. The present perspective proposes to employ such dislocation engineering concept to develop strong and ductile magnesium (Mg) alloys. High density of?<?c?+?a?>?dislocations could be generated at appropriate temperature and retained in the Mg alloy after quenching to room temperature. Those?<?c?+?a?>?dislocations inherited from the warm deformation could provide?<?c?+?a?>?dislocation sources when the Mg alloy is deformed at room temperature, resulting in good ductility. The high dislocation density generated at warm deformation provides dislocation forest hardening, leading to improved yield strength of Mg alloy.     

Design and topology/shape structural optimisation for additively manufactured cold sprayed components

Integrating advanced structural optimisation, such as topology optimisation (TO), with additive manufacturing (AM) allows design and fabrication of extremely efficient and effective components. Such integration is challenging because characteristics can vary from process to process. In this paper, designing and optimising a part for the cold spray AM process is demonstrated. Cold spray process characteristics and constraints are enforced throughout. The analysis shows a tradeoff between stress and mass, but the combined process delivers a structure at much lower stress (up to 3X reduction in peak stress in a case study) with the capability to be much lighter than the original part (case study: 20% reduction in weight). The general approach to specifying design guidelines, interpreting TO results, and applying other structural optimisation methods is directly applicable to many AM processes – and especially other spray deposition techniques – in addition to cold spray.     

Effect of laser-scan strategy on microstructure and fatigue properties of 316L additively manufactured stainless steel

The particular roles of grain morphology and defects, controlled using laser-scan strategies, on the mechanical properties and the fatigue behavior of 316L stainless steel are investigated. Microstructural characterization and X-ray tomography analysis was performed to understand the genesis of polycrystalline microstructure and defects. Tensile and fatigue tests were performed to analyze the effect of defect population and microstructural properties on plasticity and damage mechanisms during monotonic and cyclic loading. The effect of the grain-size and shape and type of defect was carefully investigated to evaluate the mechanisms driving the mechanical behavior under quasi-static and fatigue loading. It is shown that the laser-scan strategy determines the anisotropy in the plane perpendicular to the building direction. Moreover, contrary to the existing literature, for 316L obtained by AM, the grain size and shape does not affect the mechanical properties, and LoF defects drive the fatigue life, independent of the defect/grain size ratio.     

Balancing the strength and ductility of Mg-6Zn-0.2Ca alloy via sub-rapid solidification combined with hard-plate rolling

In this study,we successfully prepared a Mg-6Zn-0.2Ca alloy by utilizing sub-rapid solidification (SRS)combined with hard-plate rolling (HPR),whose elongation-to-failure increases from ～17 ％ to ～23 ％without sacrificing tensile strength (～290 MPa) compared with its counterpart processed via conven-tional solidification (CS) followed by HPR.Notably,both samples feature a similar refined grain structure with an average grain size of ～2.1 and ～2.5 μm,respectively.However,the high cooling rate of ～ 150 K/s introduced by SRS modified both the size and morphology of Ca2Mg6Zn3 eutectic phase in comparison to those coarse ones under CS condition.By subsequent HPR,the Ca2Mg6Zn3 phase was further refined and dispersed uniformly by severe fragmentation.Specially,the achieved supersaturation containing exces-sive Ca solute atoms due to high cooling rate was maintained in the SRS-HPR condition.The mechanisms that govern the high ductility of the SRS-HPR sample could be ascribed to following reasons.First,refined Ca2Mg6Zn3 eutectic phase could effectively alleviate or avoid the crack initiation.Furthermore,excessive Ca solute atoms in α-Mg matrix result in the yield point phenomenon and enhanced strain-hardening ability during tension.The findings proposed a short-processed strategy towards superior performance of Mg-6Zn-0.2Ca alloy for industrial applications.