High-Rate Characterization of L-PBF AlSi10Mg under Impact Conditions

The increasing interest in Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies is mainly driven by their high design flexibility and on-demand production. As these processes expand, there is a critical need to explore the material properties of resulting products under diverse loading conditions. This work investigates the impact response of the as-built aluminum alloy AlSi10Mg, additively manufactured employing a laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process. Taylor-cylinder impact tests have been performed with a light gas gun at different impact velocities to probe material deformation and damage behavior under high-rate loadings and complex stress paths. Three building orientations were systematically investigated– horizontal, vertical, and at 45°. At lower striking velocities (between 180 and 200 m/s), observable mushrooming deformation occurred with no apparent damage. The shape of the impact faces and deformed profiles were recorded to assess deformation differences across the tested printing directions. In the intermediate range of velocities (240–260 m/s), shear cracking emerged as the principal damage mechanism, resulting in the formation of 45°/135° oriented cracks on the samples’ lateral surface. Increasing the impact velocity promoted these cracks’ growth, ultimately leading to the samples’ fragmentation. The vertically printed sample exhibited a slightly lower onset fragmentation velocity than the other two building directions.