Aluminium Materials Technologies is working in collaboration with the University of Birmingham to deepen the understanding of its A20X aluminium alloy for additive manufacturing.
Through this partnership, the organisations will look further into the characteristic properties of the alloy produced via powder bed fusion and direct energy deposition 3D printing technologies.
A20X was first developed in the 1990s by foundry business Aeromet International in a bid to overcome the challenges – such as hot tearing and shrinkage porosity when cast into complex shapes – of A201. The A20X alloy is considered to be among the strongest commercially available additive manufacturing aluminium alloys, with a particular suitability for application in the aerospace and motorsport industries. It is said to be available for use in ‘all leading brands of AM equipment’, the alloy boasts excellent high temperature properties, stress corrosion resistance and better fatigue properties compare to AI-Si based additive manufacturing alloys, according to Aluminium Material Technologies.
The University of Birmingham has already successfully carried out projects that resulted in the printing of sample parts with the additive manufacturing alloy, and has now teamed with Aluminium Materials Technologies to further their understanding of the metallurgy. In doing so, they will investigate the effects on changes in composition, heat treatments and AM process parameters on the properties in additively manufactured components and are set to report their findings at a later date.
“A20X has been successfully adopted into fully qualified of aerospace components via additive manufacture,” Martin McMahon, Business Development Director at Aluminium Materials Technologies. “The reliability of the A205 alloy has been proven to be more than adequate in high strength, high ductility and high operating temperatures applications, so we are now building on our extensive development programmes, to create an even greater understanding of the fundamental metallurgy of the AM alloy. We look forward to making further announcements about the findings from this collaboration with such a prestigious research group.”
“The University’s experience with this alloy dates back to the early days of its introduction as a metal powder for additive manufacturing, and we have carried out many successful projects characterising the physical properties of candidate parts,” Moataz Attallah, Professor of Advanced Materials Processing and Director of AMPLab at the School of Metallurgy & Materials at the university. “So now, we are working closely with AMT to dig deeper into what makes this alloy so unique, and through our selection of AM tools and vast array of materials characterisation techniques, we are in a great position to make that happen.”
Want to discuss? Join the conversation on the Additive Manufacturing Global Community Discord.
Get your FREE print subscription to TCT Magazine.
