Anisotropy in local microstructure – Does it affect the tensile properties of the SLM samples?

Abstract

Al-12Si samples were fabricated using selective laser melting, which shows the presence of a cellular microstructure with Al along the core of the cells and Si along cell boundaries. The microstructure is anisotropic with coarse microstructure observed along the hatch overlaps and fine microstructure along the hatch cores. Indentation experiments show the presence of variation in the local mechanical properties due to anisotropic nature of the microstructure. Nevertheless, the tensile test data show repeatable mechanical properties suggesting that the variation in local mechanical properties do not have a significant influence on the bulk/macroscopic mechanical properties of the Al-12Si SLM samples.