Manufacturing Technology 2025, 25(6):742-750 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2025.077

Heat Treatment-Induced Microstructural Changes in Selectively Laser Melted AlSi10Mg Alloy

Alice Chlupová ORCID..., Jakub Poloprudský ORCID..., Michal Jambor ORCID..., Jaromír Brůža ORCID..., Ladislav Poczklán ORCID..., Jiří Man ORCID...
Institute of Physics of Materials, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Žižkova 513/22, 616 00 Brno, Czech Republic

The study examines the effect of various post-processing heat treatments on the microstructural evolution and hardness of the AlSi10Mg alloy produced by selective laser melting (SLM). The alloy was examined in the as-built (AB) condition and after three heat treatment regimes: direct aging (DA, 160°C/5 h), stress relieving (SR, 300°C/2 h), and solution annealing followed by artificial aging (SA, 520°C/2 h + 170°C/4 h) to better understand the solidification and consolidation processes. A multiscale characterization using OM, SEM, EBSD, TEM, and EDS was performed to reveal the changes in specific microstructures due to additive manufacturing and different levels of heat treatment. The AB state exhibited a fine cellular network of Si within an α-Al matrix, and high hardness (approx. 138 HV1). The DA treatment preserved cellular morphology with mild coarsening, whereas SR led to partial fragmentation of the Si network and a significant drop in hardness (approx. 83 HV1). The SA condition caused recrystallization, Si spheroidization, and formation of Mg- and Fe-rich precipitates, accompanied by moderate hardness recovery (approx. 104 HV1). The persistent crystallographic texture was confirmed across all states.

Keywords: Selective Laser Melting, Heat Treatment, AlSi10Mg, Microstructure, Properties
Grants and funding:

This study was financially supported by the Czech Science Foundation under project No. GA23-05372S. Ladislav Poczklán also acknowledges the support of the Czech Academy of Sciences under the framework of the Lumina quaeruntur project. The authors would like to thank VŠB-TUO in Ostrava for the 3D printing of experimental material

Received: August 15, 2025; Revised: December 5, 2025; Accepted: December 6, 2025; Prepublished online: December 18, 2025; Published: December 23, 2025  Show citation

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Chlupová A, Poloprudský J, Jambor M, Brůža J, Poczklán L, Man J. Heat Treatment-Induced Microstructural Changes in Selectively Laser Melted AlSi10Mg Alloy. Manufacturing Technology. 2025;25(6):742-750. doi: 10.21062/mft.2025.077.
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