The effect of adding ZrH2 particles on grain refinement and tensile strength during laser metal deposition of 7075 aluminum alloy

Abstract

7075 aluminum alloy is a type of lightweight metal material with high mechanical properties. Due to the intricate solidification process that produces the coarse grains and cracks, it is challenging to produce 7075 aluminum alloy using additive manufacturing techniques like laser metal deposition (LMD). Due to its similar crystal structure to the 7075 aluminum alloy, ZrH₂ powders were used in this study as the nucleation particles during the laser metal deposition process. The results demonstrated that the addition of ZrH₂ particles allowed the grains to be clearly refined, and that maximum tensile strength was above 330 MPa, which represents promising performance among the reported LMD-fabricated Al alloys.