Realization and characterization of AlSiMg/SiC composites by direct metal laser sintering

Many materials have been processed successfully and many reports are available in literature on the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) of iron and steels, superalloys, Ti and Al alloys. Recently, also processing of composite materials has attracted interest due to the potential of the process in freeform fabrication of intricate articles in a reduced production cycle. In this paper are summarized the main results for the realization of AlSiMg/SiC composites by DMLS: it was fundamental to study the laser sintering parameters, like laser energy and scanning speed, to obtain sintered specimens with density near to the theoretical one. The resulting composites were then investigated through optical and electron microscope.