Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458

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Additive Manufacturing
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/addma

Selective laser melting additive manufacturing of 7xxx series Al-Zn-Mg-Cu T

alloy: Cracking elimination by co-incorporation of Si and TiB2
S.Y. Zhoua,b,1, Y. Sua,b,1, H. Wanga,*, J. Enzc, T. Ebeld, M. Yanb,*
a
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen,
518060, China
b
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Additive Manufacturing of High-Performance Materials, South University of Science and
Technology of China, 518055, Shenzhen, China
c
Department of Laser Processing and Structural Assessment, Materials Mechanics, Institute of Materials Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Max-Planck-Straße 1,
21052, Geesthacht, Germany
d
Department of Materials Design and Characterization, Metallic Biomaterials, Institute of Material Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: 7xxx Al alloys such as Al-Zn-Mg-Cu are typical lightweight materials of excellent mechanical performance. Their
Additive manufacturing (AM) near-net-shape manufacturing by selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing, however, remains
Selective laser melting (SLM) challenging due to hot-cracking prone nature of these alloys, when subjected to rapid solidification during the
7xxx aluminum alloys SLM process. In this study, we propose that co-incorporation of submicron Si and TiB2 to an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy is
Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
capable to solve the long-standing problem by reducing solidification shrinkage and, simultaneously, enhancing
its fracture toughness. Results show that solidification cracks indeed have been eliminated by the co-in-
corporation, along with much-refined microstructure. The resultant mechanical properties are high in ultimate
tensile (556 ± 12 MPa) and yield strengths (455 ± 4.3 MPa). For disclosing the underlying mechanism, ana-
lytical means including high-resolution computer tomography, transmission electron microscopy and electron
backscatter diffraction, as well as finite element simulation have been employed. It is aspired that the current
approach can enable SLM to process critical engineering materials such as the hard-to-weld Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys.

1. Introduction shapes, offering a rapid, highly flexible and a mouldless alternative to

Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys belong to the 7xxx series Al alloys [1–3]. In their
composition, Mg and Zn contribute precipitation strengthening, while
Cu promotes solid solution hardening [1–3]. An T6 heat treatment
further strengthens the alloys by manipulating the GP zones [4,5]. Both
together enable the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys to become ones of the advanced
engineering materials with promising strength-to-weight ratios, whose
fracture strengths are mostly higher than 500 MPa but with rather low
densities of ∼ 2.8 g/cm3, which are only ∼1/3 of steels [1–5]. They
have found important applications in aerospace, automotive and, in
some cases, the mould making industry such as with the QC10 Al-Zn-
Mg-Cu mould alloy developed for its better thermal conductivity and
associated higher production efficiency than tool steels such as P20 [6].
In terms of processing the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys, forging and ma-
chining are the most widely employed approaches [1–5]. Additive
manufacturing (AM) by selective laser melting (SLM) is an emerging
technique capable to make complex geometry parts into near-net-
the conventional methods for manufacturing metallic materials in-
cluding the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys [7–14]. It is known, however, that SLM
of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys has encountered quite some challenges due to
the following reasons, and it largely remains to be an unsolved problem,
requiring research focus:
a Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys tend to experience severe solidification
cracking/hot cracking, which develops during cooling from liquid
state, where hot cracks nucleate at the bottom of the molten pool
[15]. It is also known that, when the concentration of (Zn + Mg +
Cu) increases, the tendency becomes more prominent, making them
hard to weld or even unweldable particularly by laser [16,17];
b Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys are mostly wrought Al alloys. Their relatively
low castability [1–3] can be problematic for its SLM processing. This
is in contrast to castable Al alloys such as AlSi10Mg and Al-Si, whose
good liquidus fluidity ensures low solidification shrinkage and good
metallurgical bonding, facilitating their SLM processing and

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: whao@szu.edu.cn (H. Wang), yanm@sustech.edu.cn (M. Yan).
1
Equal contribution to the study.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101458
Received 19 September 2019; Received in revised form 27 May 2020; Accepted 12 July 2020
Available online 15 July 2020
2214-8604/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
S.Y. Zhou, et al.
contributing to better densification [18–21]; and
c High level of thermal stress resulted from rapid cooling rate during
the SLM processing can be problematic as well. Research shows that
residual stress of ∼1000 MPa has been detected in some SLM-pre-
pared steels [22]. Residual stress in Al alloys can be close to the
yield strength (∼244 MPa) of an Al-6.3Cu alloy as reported by Gu
et al. [23]. Such level thermal stress can break metallic materials of
low fracture toughness including the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys and result
in thermal cracking.
Extensive research efforts have been made to improve the print-
ability of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys. For instances, Montero Sistiaga et al. [24]
have added 4 wt.%Si to 7075 Al alloy and an increased printability is
realized; the corresponding density is 98.9 %, but yield strength re-
mains less ideal (∼279 MPa for the as-printed state and ∼338 MPa for
the heat-treated) due to still existing microcracks and pores in the mi-
crostructure. Martin et al. [25] have proposed an electrostatic self-as-
sembled approach to incorporate nanometer ZrH2 particle to the 7075
alloy powder. The resultant tensile strength (T6) is 383−417 MPa with
3.8–5.4 % in elongation. Release of H2 gas due to decomposition of the
ZrH2 phase might be one of the reasons for the lowered mechanical
properties.
Despite the efforts, there is still a gap in terms of mechanical per-
formance between the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys and their coun-
terparts produced by the conventional methods, e.g. forging.
Considering the importance of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys, a better ap-
proach to further address the problem is urgently required, which
should be able to:
a Mitigate or even fully solve the hot cracking problem that the Al-Zn-
Mg-Cu alloys are experiencing during their SLM processing;
b Realize better mechanical property such as > 500 MPa in fracture
strength; and
c Be as simple as possible.
In this investigation, we will first propose our approach for ad-
dressing the aforementioned problem and then lay out the underlying
design rationale. Subsequently, we will employ analytical and compu-
tational means to study the as-printed material and discuss the results.
Through the study, we will show that by co-incorporation of submicron
Si and TiB2 particles to the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, we have eventually
eliminated the hot cracking problem and realized good mechanical
properties in the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy. It is aspired that the
results may have wide implications for dealing with the hard-to-weld
materials by SLM.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Raw materials
Gas atomized, pre-alloyed powder of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was
commercially purchased (MTI, Guangzhou) for this study. The chemical
composition of the as-supplied powder was Al-5.43Zn-2.65Mg-1.40Cu
(QC10) with other minor alloying elements, including 0.21 %Cr, 0.22 %
Fe, 0.19 %Si, 0.05 %Mn and 0.02 %Ti (in wt.%; same below unless
stated otherwise). Its particle size ranged in 15−53 μm with an average
size at ∼40 μm. In order to assure the co-incorporation, commercial
powders of TiB2 (99.6 % purity; 0.1−11 μm) and Si (99.0 % purity;
0.5−2 μm) were firstly ball milled for 2 h using a ball milling machine
(Fritsch, ldar-Oberstein, Germany) in a high-purity argon atmosphere.
The rotation speed was 150 r/min, and the ball-to-powder weight ratio
was 10:1. They were then mixed with the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu powder by a
TURBULA T2F planetary shaker-mixer for 45 min. Homogeneous dis-
tribution of the introduced secondary particles can be achieved in this
way, as already proved in a few similar in-situ alloying studies [e.g.
[26]]. Flowability of the powders with and without the co-
2
Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458
incorporation was evaluated by a particle analyzer, which gave eva-
luation marks based on repose angle, etc. of the powders [27].
2.2. SLM processing
SLM processing was conducted on an EOS M290 (the maximum
build size: 250 × 250 × 325 mm). The substrate was AlSi10Mg plate,
which was kept at 150 °C during printing. The build chamber was filled
with nominal pure argon during printing to keep the oxygen con-
centration below 15 ppm. The maximum power of the Yb fibre laser
(wavelength ∼ 1064 nm) was 400 W and the spot size was ∼70 μm.
Layer thickness (30 μm) and hatch spacing (105 μm) were kept as
constants in the study, while scanning speed and laser power were
varied for process optimization. During printing, the laser was stripe-
scanned. Stripe width was 5 mm and direction of scanning was rotated
by 67°between adjacent layers. The volumetric laser energy density (ε)
is defined as follows:
P
ε=
νhd (1)
where v is the scanning rate (1000−1800 mm/s for this study), P is the
laser power (200−350 W), h is the layer thickness, and d is the hatch
spacing. The as-sintered density was measured by the Archimedes
method.
2.3. Heat treatment
The T6 heat treatment was conducted at 490 °C for 1 h for solu-
tioning [4]. A vertical tube furnace under pure argon gas flow was used
with a heating rate of 5 °C/min, followed by quenching in water. An-
nealing was then conducted in argon atmosphere at 120 °C for 18 h [4];
the heating and cooling rate was 4 °C/min. The relative density of the
as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with and without the co-addition was
measured by the Archimedes method, while the former was calculated
as a percentage of the theoretical density. The theoretical density of
∼2.82/cm3 was estimated using the following method [28]:
M
ρ= M × a% M × b% M× c%
( ρ + + )
a ρb ρc (2)
where M is the total mass of the alloy, and a, b, c are the weight per-
centages of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu, Si and TiB2, respectively; ρa, ρb, and ρc are
the densities of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu (∼2.86 g/cm3, as measured using cast
samples), Si(∼2.33 g/cm3) and TiB2 (∼4.52 g/cm3), respectively.
2.4. Mechanical property testing
Plate samples for tensile testing were directly printed into the di-
mensions of 73 mm long, 10 mm wide and 2 mm thick according to the
standard GB/T 228.1–2010. Tensile testing was conducted following
the GB/T 228.1–2010 standard on polished samples and at the build
direction (Z), perpendicular to the XOY plane, where the samples were
built. A crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min was used in the tensile testing
with an Instron 25 mm dynamic extensometer. Microhardness test was
conducted with five repetitions per sample using a Vickers HXD-
1000TM/LCD microhardness tester and a load of 1 N for 15 s; the test
was performed following the GB/T4340.1—1999 standard.
2.5. Microstructural analysis
Samples for microstructural analysis were printed into same shapes
using the same SLM parameters as for the tensile testing. After standard
metallurgical polishing, microstructure of the as-printed specimens was
analyzed with a Zeiss Axioscop 40 Pol polarizing optical microscope
(OM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) (Quanta 200, FEI, the
Netherlands). Chemical composition was investigated by an energy
S.Y. Zhou, et al.
dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscope (EDAX Inc., USA). Crystallographic
orientation and grain size of samples were investigated via electron
backscatter diffraction (EBSD) (ZEISS Merlin). The surface for the EBSD
observation, which was perpendicular to the build direction, was pre-
pared using a JEOL IB-09010CP cross-section polisher. Transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) (Talos F200X) was performed to investigate
the microstructure at nanoscale. Precision ion polishing system (PIPS;
Gatan) was used to prepare TEM samples, which were randomly taken
from the XOY plane of the as-printed samples. Phase constitution was
studied by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) with Cu Kα radiation (λ
=0.15418 nm) (D8 Advanced, Bruker AXSGmbH, Germany) at 20 kV
and 20 mA. Micro-computer tomography (CT) analysis was performed
using a high-resolution comprehensive micro-focus CT detection system
(diondo d2) at 100 kV with the best resolution at ∼2 μm. Laser ab-
sorptivity of the powder mixtures was investigated in the 600 nm ∼
1500 nm wavelength range by a diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS)
(UV–vis-NIR Lambda 950 Perkin Elmer spectrometer), while the wa-
velength of the Yb fiber laser used was at ∼1075 nm for the SLM
process. Pre-alloyed powder of the undoped Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was also
measured for comparison. During the DRS measurement, the powders
were sealed and placed in a quartz cuvette, and then mounted on a
Teflon sample holder. Based on the K-M equation, the laser reflectivity
(R) and Kubelka–Munk (K-M) were subsequently been determined as ƒ
(R) = ((1-R)2/2R) [29,30], where R was the measured laser reflectivity
of the powders. The CrystalMaker®X software was used to generate
crystal structures. To simulate the non-equilibrium solidification,
Thermo-Calc analysis was performed on the platform of Thermo-Calc-
2019a using the database of TCAL5:Al-Alloys v5.1.
2.6. Finite element simulation
Computer simulation via Finite Element Method (FEM) was con-
ducted to analyze SLM of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy. An AM model was
applied using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a commercial software, which
was based on governing behavior of conductive heat transfer in a track-
by-track and layer-wise deposition manner, see the Supplementary
materials and the related Table S1 and Table S2.
3. Results
3.1. Rationale for the cracking elimination strategy and research flowchart
Firstly, as stated in the Introduction part, one of the major problems
for printing the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy lies in its high hot cracking ten-
dency, which is further related to the solidification shrinkage. Inspired
by the Si-rich Al alloys such as AlSi10Mg and Al-Si alloys, which have
good printability [18–21], Si is selected to be added in the first place to
offer extra liquid phase for lowering solidification shrinkage and re-
ducing the tendency of solidification cracking. To better illustrate this,
Fig. 1(a) shows the solidification curves generated by the Thermo-Calc
software, suggesting that adding Si (e.g. 4%) to the alloy will lower the
dfs/dt value (=slope of the solidification curve), where fs is fraction of
solid phase and t is time. Meanwhile, the value of dfs/dt is suggested to
be closely related to the solidification cracking as the relationship (1/v
(dv/dt) ∞ dfs/dt) indicates, where v is bulk volume [15].
Based on the calculated solidification curves, it seems that the ad-
dition of Si decreases the temperature difference considerably, by a
factor of approximately 2.4. Regarding this, Kou et al. [31] also pre-
viously pointed out that a larger temperature difference between the
liquidus temperature and solidification temperature tends to lead
higher cracking tendency, and vice versa. The alloy that they in-
vestigated was Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-4%Si, which showed that the doped Si
reduced the crack susceptibility by changing the solidification behavior
of the base Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy.
On the other hand, in order to incorporate Si to the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
alloy, the maximum temperature during the SLM processing should be
3
Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458
at least higher than the melting point of the pure Si (∼1414 °C), see the
demonstrative phase diagram of Al-Si in Fig. 1(b), where Al is the main
phase of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy [1–3]. To check upon this, the FEM
simulation has been conducted. The results are shown in Fig. 1(c) for
the transient temperature profile as a function of time, and Fig. 1(d) for
the temperature distribution covering the molten pool, heat affected
zone and rest of the interested area. The simulation results reveal that
the theoretical maximum temperature may reach ∼1977 °C (2250 K)
during printing and the lifetime for the molten pool is about 0.07 ms.
This suggests that it is possible to melt the Si particles during SLM,
while to distribute Si homogenously is another issue. According to a
previous study of the authors on the in-situ laser alloyed (IN718+Al),
the diffusion of the added elements (e.g. Al) alone cannot realize a
desirable distribution, but it becomes possible after combining the
Marangoni effect [32]. Furthermore, as the simulation forecasts
(Fig. 1d), the highest temperature region is theoretically ∼150 μm in
diameter. It should cover a few (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + incorporated Si) par-
ticles if the size of the latter is in the micrometer range, ensuring their
melting in the laser beam. Furthermore, according to studies in-
vestigating powder size effect on the as-printed microstructure [32],
sub-micrometer is a suitable particle size for secondary phases, which
has also been adopted in this study.
Secondly, literature has demonstrated that the grain boundary li-
quation cracking occurs under two conditions, i.e. a continuous or semi-
continuous liquid film at grain boundary and a tensile stress sufficiently
high to separate the liquid film [33–35]. In this regard, a modified
microstructure with refined grain size may have the following two
beneficial consequences: (a) It helps with reducing the thickness of the
liquid films and therefore lowers the hot cracking tendency as shown in
Fig. 2 [36,37]. This was confirmed by the study of Sigworth and Kuhn
[38] on an investigation of the Al alloys doped with grain refiner, Ti
and/or B; and (b) generally speaking, a refined microstructure improves
fracture roughness of a material, leading to an enhanced cracking re-
sistance [39], also suggesting that crack initiation resistance can be
improved by way of grain refinement using grain refiner(s) [40,41].
Here, we consider to incorporate TiB2 as the possible nucleation
agent to realize grain refinement in the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy and, in turn,
enhance its fracture toughness and resistance to cracking. The TiB2 is
suitable for the following two reasons: (a) According to the edge-to-
edge theory proposed by Zhang et al. [42,43], the lower the mismatch
between matrix material and nucleation agent, the more suitable a
nucleation agent will be and the better the grain refinement effect that
one can expect. It is noted that TiB2 is a hexagonal close packed (hcp)
crystal with a =0.3031 nm and c =0.3229 nm. Meanwhile, the face-
centered-cubic (fcc) Al has a lattice parameter of a =0.2863 nm. In this
regard, if we project the (111) plane of the Al along the [110] direction
and project the (0001) plane of the TiB2 along the [0,0,− 1,0] direc-
tion, we will find that the two crystal planes match with each other
quite well, suggesting a potent capability of TiB2 for Al to nucleate on,
see Fig. 1(e). This hypothesis is consistent with the findings in literature
[44,45]; and (b) TiB2 is a typical high-temperature material, whose
melting point is 3215 °C (Fig. 1f). It may remain stable during the SLM
processing, see the simulation results in Fig. 1(c).
By such co-incorporation of Si and TiB2 into the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy,
one can expect decreased solidification cracking tendency and en-
hanced fracture toughness, eventually realizing containment of the hot
cracking. A well-known T6 heat treatment will be subsequently carried
out to further increase strength of the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu, along
with SLM process optimization to secure high relative density. Fig. 2(a)
shows the corresponding research flowchart. The schematic graphs for
illustrating the research rationale are shown in Fig. 2(b). Regarding the
amount of the co-incorporated Si and TiB2, we have selected 4 wt.%Si
and 2 wt.%TiB2 as a proof of concept after referring to literature
[24,25] as well as previous results of the authors [46].
S.Y. Zhou, et al. Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458

Fig. 1. (a) Thermo-Calc generated solidification curve for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy without and with 4%Si, (b) Thermo-Calc generated binary phase diagram of Al-Si,
(c) temperature-time profile predicted by the FEM simulation for the area beneath laser beam, (d) temperature profile predicted by the FEM simulation for the
interested are covering molten pool, HAZ, etc., (e) schematic graph of Al and TiB2 created by the Crystal software, and (f) Thermo-Calc generated schematic graph of
the Al-TiB2 binary phase diagram.

3.2. SLM processing, microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al-
Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with and without the co-incorporation
Fig. 3(a) shows the SEM image of the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
powder. Fig. 3(b) is a higher magnification image, showing the sphe-
rical pre-alloyed powder. Fig. 3(c) is for the powder after the co-in-
corporation, and Fig. 3(d) further presents the higher magnification
image for the powder mixture. Figure inset in Fig. 3(d) provides the
particles sizes of the TiB2, Si and Al-Zn-Mg-Cu powders. Regarding
powder flowability, the powders before and after modification are not
changed significantly. It has been experimentally proven that the
flowability of the powder mixture is sufficiently good and it can be well
spread on the substrate for printing.
SLM experiments are subsequently conducted using the co-in-
corporated powder to verify the effectiveness of the approach. The
results are shown in Fig. 4(a) for the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy,
4(b) for the incorporated by Si alone, and 4(c) for the (Si + TiB2) co-
incorporated, respectively. The corresponding as-printed micro-
structures are revealed by OM and EBSD. Grain size distributions are
further summarized into bar figures based on the EBSD analysis, as
shown in Fig. 4(a)–(c). Fig. 4(a) demonstrates that without modifica-
tion, the original Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy has experienced severe cracking
(observed in the XOY plane). Addition of the Si alone to the Al-Zn-Mg-
Cu alloy has largely reduced the macroscopic cracks to a neglectable
level, but pores are still extensive as revealed by both the OM and EBSD
imaging and measured by the Archimedes method (best at 97.65 %),
Fig. 4(b). Internal microcracks should also persist, which can be judged
from the poor mechanical properties in terms of tensile strength and
elongation (see Fig. 9).
Although macrocracks have been reduced by the solely added Si, the

4
S.Y. Zhou, et al.
Fig. 2. (a) Research flowchart for the proposed co-incorporation of Si and TiB2 to the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, and (b) expected microstructural changes due to the co-
incorporation of Si and TiB2, and T6 heat treatment to the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy.
grain size has not changed significantly (average of ∼18 μm vs. average
of ∼16 μm), suggesting that Si addition alone is not effective enough to
substantially improve the printability of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy from
microcrack mitigation perspective. With further co-addition with the
TiB2 phase, the microstructure has been greatly improved in terms of
grain size refinement (down to ∼5 μm) as well as cracking elimination
compared with the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, Fig. 4(c). The results
have verified the effectiveness of the co-incorporation approach, and
are consistent with what we have expected as interpreted in Figs. 1 and
5
Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458
2. The potent effect of TiB2 as a nucleation agent for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
alloy is confirmed as well.
After verifying the feasibility of the co-incorporation in eliminating
the hot cracking, optimization of the SLM parameters has been further
carried out. Fig. 5(a) shows the porosity/density variation with dif-
ferent laser energy densities (ε) in the range of 50−100 J/mm3 for the
modified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu. It needs to be noted that the relative density
here is directly measured using the Archimedes method while the
porosity presented in the figure is determined using CT. Although CT
Fig. 3. SEM images of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy
powders: (a) low magnification image for the
unmodified powder, (b) high magnification
image for the unmodified powder, (c) low
magnification image for the modified powder
with the co-incorporation of Si and TiB2, and
(d) high magnification image for the modified
spherical powder with the with the co-in-
corporation of Si and TiB2. Figure inset in (d)
provides the size distribution of the Al-Zn-Mg-
Cu alloy powder, Si powder and TiB2 powder.
S.Y. Zhou, et al.
Fig. 4. OM images, EBSD images and grain size distributions of: (a) the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, (b) the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si alloy, and (c) the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si
+ TiB2 alloy. Laser parameters of (350 W, 1400 mm/s), (300 W, 1200 mm/s), and (300 W, 1100 mm/s) have been employed, respectively.
may report a lower porosity value due to its limited resolution, the
results obtained from both techniques show a same tendency.
Fig. 5(b)–(d) presents the typical OM images and CT results. The gen-
eral trend revealed is that increasing the volumetric laser energy den-
sity can lead to high relative densities, while too low or too high energy
input will result in insufficient melting (the former case) or higher
degree of gaseous evaporation (the latter case), reducing the relative
density as a result [47]. The highest relative density (∼98.8 %) has
been achieved at the scanning speed of 1100 mm/s, laser power of 300
W and laser energy density of ∼84 J/mm3. A low level of porosity
(∼1.2 %) still exists in the as-printed microstructure (Fig. 5c), but there
are no observable cracks, consistent with the OM observation.
It should be noted that after the co-incorporation, the reflectivity of
the powder decreases compared with the unmodified powder, see
Fig. 6. The corresponding Kubelka–Munk (K-M) absorption factor [48]
increases. Both imply that laser absorption increases as a result of the
co-incorporation, although it is known that the values are with large
error bars and can only be taken as semi-quantitative ones. This ten-
dency is further related to the fact that Si and TiB2 are better light
absorbents than the highly reflective Al alloys [49]. This indicates that
for processing the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu, the best laser energy
density might be slightly higher than the ∼84 J/mm3 that has been
determined for the co-incorporated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu.
Fig. 7(a)–(c) show the {101}, {100} and {111} EBSD pole figures for
the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu, Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si, and the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu +
Si + TiB2, respectively. It is revealed that both the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu and the
Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si have a certain level of texture particularly regarding
the growth preference of the {100} grains, whose values are higher
than 2 mrd. In contrast, the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si + TiB2 alloy shows
much less texture whose maximum intensity is below 1.3 mrd, in-
dicating a grain growth tendency towards random orientation, which
6
Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458
can be further related to the refined microstructure.
Fig. 8 shows XRD results for the powders of the unmodified and
modified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, the as-printed (using 1100 mm/s and 300
W) and the T6 heat treated. It is noted that phase constitution for the
Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy powder without modification consists of two major
phases, i.e. the Al phase and the MgZn2 phase, which is typical to the
Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys [1–3]. In the as-printed, co-incorporated samples,
the peak of TiB2 is reduced in intensity but still observable after
printing, suggesting that it may remain unreacted during SLM. Mean-
while, the Si peaks in the as-printed microstructure are weak, sug-
gesting that most of them have been melted during the printing. Phase
constitution in the T6 heat treated state is similar to that of the as-
printed, since size of precipitates due to the T6 heat treatment is in the
nanometer scale and hard to be detected by lab XRD [4,5].
Regarding mechanical properties, Fig. 9 a shows the representative
tensile curves of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu samples with or without the addition
of Si and/or TiB2. The bar graph (Fig. 9b) presents and compares the
tensile properties of the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with and without
modification, as well as the results for the T6 heat-treated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
alloy. These samples are tested in their build direction and using the
same parameters as 1100 mm/s scanning speed and 300 W laser power.
From the figure, it can be seen that without the co-incorporation, the
Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy shows very poor mechanical performance due to the
massive macrocracks in the microstructure (see Fig. 4a). Incorporation
by Si alone will increase the tensile strength to level still below the
desired level of ∼500 MPa. Only after the co-incorporation, the frac-
ture strength of the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu reaches ∼450 MPa, being
significantly improved compared with the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
alloy. The T6 heat treatment has led to a further improvement of the
fracture strength [4,5]. Finally, the fracture strength of the T6 heat-
treated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy maximizes to ∼556 MPa with an elongation
S.Y. Zhou, et al. Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458

Fig. 5. (a) Relative density/porosity as a function of the laser energy density, (b) the OM image and CT image for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy processed by using 1000
mm/s scanning speed and 300 W output power, (c) the OM image and CT image for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy processed by using 1100 mm/s scanning speed and 300 W
output power, and (d) the OM image and CT image for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy processed by using 1800 mm/s scanning speed and 300 W output power.

of ∼4.0 %. Meanwhile, Vickers hardness of the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu 4. Discussion

with the co-incorporation is (195 ± 4) HV0.3, being increased evi-
dently from the initial (163 ± 5) HV0.3 for the sample without the co-
incorporation.
Fig. 10 shows the fractography of the as-printed materials with and
without the co-incorporation. Macrocracks and non-melting particles
are observable in the unmodified material, see Fig. 10(a) and Fig. 10(b);
the former is consistent with what is presented in Fig. 4a. After the co-
incorporation, the cross section of the fractured surface appears to
contain small dimples, a general indication of ductile fracture behavior,
see Fig. 10(c), (d) and figure inset in 10 (d).
Above experimental and computational results have demonstrated
that co-incorporation of Si and TiB2 into the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy is
capable to significantly eliminate the cracking tendency of the alloy and
result in crack-free, much refined microstructure and significantly im-
proved mechanical properties. The research findings are further clar-
ified through the following two brief discussions.
4.1. Brief discussion on the existence form of TiB2 in the as-printed
microstructure

SLM utilities highly focused, powerful laser beam to melt metal

7
S.Y. Zhou, et al. Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458

Fig. 6. Laser reflectivity and the K-M absorption for the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-
Cu powder, and the modified powders with Si, and Si + TiB2 co-incorporation.
Fig. 8. XRD patterns of the 7xxx Al alloy powder, the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu powder with
the co-incorporation of Si and TiB2, and the as-printed microstructures for the
powders [7–14]. Among the two additives, TiB2 has a high melting Al-Zn-Mg-Cu with the co-incorporation and then T6 heat treated.
point material (Tm = 3215 °C). It is necessary to clarify, whether or not
the TiB2 phase remains stable during the SLM processing. Fig. 11 shows
reduced defects and led to much refined grain size. Mechanical per-
typical TEM results of the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with the co-
formance of the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu has been benefited from the
incorporation. The corresponding TEM high-angle angular dark field
microstructural changes, showing enhanced fracture strength, elonga-
(HAADF) image is shown in Fig. 11(a), whose chemical composition is
tion and microhardness.
presented in Fig. 11(b). Fig. 11(c) presents the distribution of the major
As shown in Fig. 9, without the co-incorporation, the original as-
elements namely Al, Zn, Mg, Cu, Si and Ti; the latter two elements
printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy fails prematurely with very low strength and
originate from the co-addition of Si and TiB2. It is known that B is a
poor ductility, which is mostly resulted from the predominant cracking
light element and very hard to be captured by TEM-EDX so the signal
in the microstructure. Co-incorporation of Si and TiB2 has contributed
for Ti is used to show the distribution of the TiB2 phase. Fig. 11(c)
to the significantly enhanced printability as well as mechanical prop-
suggests at least three types of compositional contrasts are observable
erties, whose design rationale has been previously stated in the Section
in the observation area: (a) an Al-Mg-Zn-Cu phase, which should be the
3.1. Herein the mechanism relating to the cracking elimination can be
Al matrix containing Mg, Zn and Cu as alloying elements; (b) an Si-rich
further discussed as follows (Fig. 12): The scenarios for the ‘cracking
phase, which should be the Si phase and consistent with the XRD results
likely’ to occur and the ‘cracking unlikely’ to occur are depicted in
in Fig. 8; and (c) a Ti-rich phase, which should be corresponding to the
Fig. 12a, and the corresponding simplified temperature and displace-
TiB2 phase. The results suggest that the TiB2 particles do exist in the as-
ment conditions in Fig. 12b. From literature, it is suggested that when
printed microstructure, implying that they remain stable or at least
liquid films are present at the last stage of solidification, the associated
partially unreacted during printing as initially proposed and consistent
strain can concentrate at the regions where liquid and solid phases
with the simulation results as presented in Fig. 1(c).
coexist and the solidification cracking tends to occur at the grain
boundaries nearby, particularly in those microstructures with course
4.2. Brief discussion on the enhanced mechanical property columnar grains, Fig. 12a [50–53]. The region is referred to as the
‘mushy zone’ whose length (L) is illustrated in Fig. 12b and thickness of
As demonstrated above, co-incorporation of Si and TiB2 has greatly the liquid film is denoted as d [50–53]. A refined microstructure,

Fig. 7. The EBSD pole figures of (a) the original Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, (b) the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si, and (c) the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si + TiB2.

8
S.Y. Zhou, et al. Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458

Fig. 9. Engineering tensile test curves (a) and data (b) for the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with Si addition (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si), the Al-Zn-
Mg-Cu alloy with the co-incorporation of Si and TiB2 (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu + Si + TiB2), and the T6 heat treated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with the co-incorporation of Si and TiB2
(SLMed + T6).

however, can improve fracture roughness of the material and, more
importantly, reduce the value of L by forming small grains, leading to
an enhanced cracking resistance and changing the situation from
‘cracking likely’ to ‘cracking unlikely’.
On the other hand, heat treatment is a key process to improve
mechanical properties of the as-produced 7xxx series Al-Zn-Mg-Cu al-
loys. Among the recommended heat treatments, the T6 heat treatment
is a well-established one for achieving peak aging, which consists of a
solution treatment and an artificial aging. In most cases, the solution
temperature ranges in 465–490 °C and the aging temperature is around
120 °C [54–58], which is similar to the one adopted in the present
study. Furthermore, combining the XRD results presented in Fig. 8 and
the TEM results in Fig. 11, it is suggested that at least the micronmeter-
or even nanometer-sized precipitates namely the MgZn2, TiB2 and Si
phases have contributed to the strengthening of the T6 treated alloy,
enhancing the fracture strength from the original ∼ 450 MPa to ∼ 550
MPa.
Fig. 13 further presents and compares the mechanical properties of
different Al alloys, including the as-printed AlSi10Mg from literature,
the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy developed in this study, and the wrought 7075
alloy [59–62]. It is noted that the best tensile properties (∼556 ± 12
MPa) achieved by the co-incorporated, as-printed-then-T6-heat-treated
Al-Zn-Mg-Cu are much better than the as-printed AlSi10Mg, which is
known as the most widely used Al alloy for SLM due to the lack of high-
strength alternatives. It is even comparable to the wrought 7075 alloy
in terms of fracture strength. The elongation is not as good as the
wrought ones though. The reason should be related to the ∼1.2 %
porosity remaining in the as-printed microstructure [63]. But since SLM
is a near-net-shape manufacturing technology, post processing is less
needed compared with the conventional means. Lower ductility can be
less problematic from this perspective. For critical applications that
require high elongation, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is a reliable

Fig. 10. SEM images showing the fractured surfaces of the as-printed materials: (a) and (b) for the unmodified Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, (c) and (d) for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
alloy with the co-incorporation of Si and TiB2.

9
S.Y. Zhou, et al. Additive Manufacturing 36 (2020) 101458

Fig. 11. Results for the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy co-incorporated with Si and TiB2: (a) high-resolution HAADF image, (b) the EDX result, and (c) the TEM EDX
mapping to show distributions of the Al, Zn, Cu, Mg, Si and Ti elements.

approach to be applied for further improving the ductility [64,65],
along with possible further optimization in terms of SLM parameters.
5. Conclusions
In this study, we have addressed one of the critical challenges SLM
faces, which is to process the hard-to-weld materials such as the Al-Zn-
Mg-Cu alloy. The approach is to co-incorporate submicron Si and TiB2
in order to provide extra liquid phase and to increase fracture toughness
for resisting hot cracking. The approach is demonstrated to be effective
in eliminating the cracking problem and improving mechanical prop-
erties. The main conclusions are made as follows:
(1) Without the proposed co-incorporation, the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu
alloy shows macrocracks in its microstructure and very poor frac-
ture strength and elongation. Co-incorporation of the submicron Si
and TiB2 particles to the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy by simple mechanical
blending has eliminated the hot cracking issue. Other beneficial
microstructural changes include greatly refined microstructure,
from ∼18 μm for the unmodified to ∼5 μm for the co-incorporated.
(2) Microstructural analysis and FEM simulation show that the TiB2
phase remains stable during the SLM processing and it should have
functioned as the nucleation agent for the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy.
Meanwhile, Si has added extra fluid to the alloy to reduce solidi-
fication shrinkage. Altogether, they are responsible for the sig-
nificantly modified behavior of the co-incorporated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu

Fig. 12. (a) The schematic diagram of the susceptibility to cracking of solidification and liquation during the SLM process, (b) size and boundary condition of the
solidification cracking model on columnar grain (according to [50–53]).

10
S.Y. Zhou, et al.
Fig. 13. Mechanical properties comparison among the various types of Al
materials including the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu, the as-printed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu co-
incorporated with Si and TiB2, AlSi10Mg and the wrought Al-Zn-Mg-Cu (ac-
cording to [59–62]).
alloy under the SLM processing.
(3) Appropriate SLM processing parameters for the co-incorporated Al-
Zn-Mg-Cu alloy are 1100 mm/s as the scanning speed and 300 W as
the laser power. The corresponding laser energy density is ∼84 J/
mm3. The best fracture strength achieved due to the co-incorpora-
tion and subsequent T6 heat treatment is up to ∼556 ± 12 MPa in
fracture strength and 4.5 ± 1.1 % in elongation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships
with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence
our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any
nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be
construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the
manuscript entitled.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant No. 51771123), Research and Development Program
Project in Key Areas of Guangdong Province(2019B090907001),
Shenzhen Peacock Innovation Project (Grant No.
KQJSCX20170327151307811) and Shenzhen Science and Tenchnology
Innovation Commission (ZDSYS201703031748354). Dr. M. Yan ac-
knowledges the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced
Researchers.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary material related to this article can be found, in the
online version, at doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101458.
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