Investigation of the Residual Stresses of Cryotreated Additively Manufactured AlMgSi Components using Neutron Diffraction
CSERV specializes in cryogenic treatment technologies for industrial materials and components. The company develops advanced cryogenic processing solutions to enhance material performance, improve dimensional stability, and increase wear resistance in demanding engineering applications.
To better understand the influence of cryogenic treatment on additively manufactured aluminium alloys, a joint investigation was conducted with Inspire AG. AlMgSi cylinders were produced using additive manufacturing and subsequently subjected to different post-processing routes, including cryogenic treatment and artificial aging. The objective was to determine how these treatments affect the internal residual stress state and overall material behaviour.
ANAXAM’s applied materials analytics using high-resolution neutron diffraction has been successfully used to quantify the residual stress distributions within the manufactured components. The non-destructive materials testing enabled the evaluation of axial, radial, and hoop stress components throughout the samples and provided valuable insight into the stress-relaxation mechanisms induced by cryogenic treatment. The results contributed to a deeper understanding of the relationship between post-processing conditions and the structural integrity of additively manufactured AlMgSi components.
This project enabled us to gain a deeper understanding of our cryogenic process from a different perspective. The results revealed that different cryogenic processing conditions can lead to significantly different residual stress distributions within the material. This provided valuable insights that would not have been accessible through conventional surface-based stress measurement techniques alone.”
Christian Schmidli, Managing Director,
CSERV
