Effect of heat treatment on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of LPBFed (TiB₂+ SiC)/AlSi10Mg composites

Herein, the effects of artificial aging (AA) treatment and annealing treatment (AT) on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of (TiB₂+ SiC)/AlSi10Mg composites fabricated via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) were investigated. The results indicate that the microstructure and molten pool morphology exhibit only minor changes after AA. In contrast, AT disrupts the eutectic fibrous Si networks, blurs the boundary of the melt pool, softens the α-Al matrix, promotes further precipitation of Si, and coarsens its size. Notably, superior performances for the composites are achieved after AA treatment, showing a Brinell hardness of 145.4 HBW, a tensile strength of 490.5 MPa, and a yield strength of 232.4 MPa.