Investigation of Al-Cu using different preparation methods on the Amazemet RePowder machine

Additive manufacturing is an important means of product prototyping and main production process such as in jewelry where shaping may be difficult. With most powders being imported and expensive, there is need to locally produce powder from extracted metal, scrap materials and used powders for additive manufacturing. Al-10Cu (wt%) rod and powder were prepared using the Amazemet rePowder system. A 90:10 by mass mix of pure aluminium and pure copper was used as feedstock for both rod and powder. The rod was melted using arc melting and the powder was produced by ultrasonic induction atomisation. The rod and powder were analysed using XRD and SEM. Results shows the same composition, phases and microstructure were achieved in the rod and powder forms of the Al-10Cu (wt%) alloy.