T6 heat-treated AlSi10Mg alloys additive-manufactured by selective laser melting

A two-stage T6 heat treatment has been proposed to tailor mechanical properties of the selective laser melting fabricated AlSi10Mg alloy. The process included solid solution at 535 ºC and artificial aging at 158 ºC for 10 h. The densification, hardness and oxidation behavior have been investigated after T6 heat treatment. The results demonstrate that the hardness of the T6 heat-treated samples are lower than untreated ones. This is because a fine-grained recrystallization microstructure develops during solid solution. Oxides aggregation and dimple distribution occurred due to sufficient diffusion at the artificial aging of the second stage.