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Microstructure Formation and Mechanical Properties of a Wire-Arc Additive Manufactured Magnesium Alloy

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Abstract

Wire-arc additive manufacturing offers great advantages in terms of design freedom with respect to conventional manufacturing processes. This design freedom translates into additional options for light-weighting, further raised by use of light-weight materials such as magnesium. Here, Cold Metal Transfer is used to manufacture specimens using the magnesium AZ61A alloy. The fabricated deposit has been characterized in-depth in terms of microstructure and mechanical properties. A homogeneous and fine-grained microstructure was observed with no variations in hardness throughout the specimen height. Analyzed second phases are fine due to the high process-intrinsic cooling rates. A weak basal-fiber texture was observed, which is more pronounced in the fusion zone and becomes diffuse in the intralayer region. This texture translates into a weak mechanical anisotropy. The assessment of the mechanical properties suggests values between typical cast and wrought material properties. This study demonstrates the feasibility of processing magnesium alloys by wire-arc additive manufacturing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the LKR’s staff members for their continuous support during materials processing and subsequent analyses. This research has been funded by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) within the framework ASAP – Austrian Space Applications Program in the project “Element 12” (FFG project no. 873660).

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  1. LKR Light Metals Technologies Ranshofen, Austrian Institute of Technology, 5282, Ranshofen, Austria

    Thomas Klein, Aurel Arnoldt, Martin Schnall & Stefan Gneiger

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  1. Thomas Klein
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Correspondence to Thomas Klein.

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Klein, T., Arnoldt, A., Schnall, M. et al. Microstructure Formation and Mechanical Properties of a Wire-Arc Additive Manufactured Magnesium Alloy. JOM 73, 1126–1134 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-021-04567-4

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