Vibration behaviour of additively manufactured AlSi10Mg specimens

Abstract Additive manufacturing is in continuous development, and the obtained components still have some shortcomings. The vast majority of mechanical characterizations are performed on polymer materials, using in particular the material extrusion process, while metallic components face not negligible deficiencies. This paper presents an experimental investigation of the vibration behaviour of selective laser melting (SLM) 3D printed specimens. The specimens were printed “on-edge” from AlSi10Mg aluminium alloys and subjected to fatigue tests. By using an electrodynamic shaker, controller, acceleration transducer, and laser vibrometer, the tests have been performed and the data analysed. After the tests, a correlation was obtained by using a finite element analysis (FEA). The damping coefficients (alpha and beta) are obtained from the experimental data. These coefficients are then used to check the accuracy of each FEA model. The results reveal the correlation between structural damping and anisotropy of additive manufacturing specimens, and their impact on high-cycle fatigue performance.