In Situ Mo(Si,Al)(2)-Based Composite through Selective Laser Melting of a MoSi(2)-30 wt.% AlSi10Mg Mixture

The laser power bed fusion approach has been successfully employed to manufacture Mo(Si,Al)(2)-based composites through the selective laser melting of a MoSi(2)-30 wt.% AlSi10Mg mixture for high-temperature structural applications. Composites were manufactured by leveraging the in situ reaction of the components during printing at 150–300 W laser power, 500–1000 mm·s(−1) laser scanning speed, and 100–134 J·mm(−3) volumetric energy density. Microcomputed tomography scans indicated a negligible induced porosity throughout the specimens. The fully dense Mo(Si(1-x),Al(x))(2)-based composites, with hardness exceeding 545 HV1 and low roughness for both the top (horizontal) and side (vertical) surfaces, demonstrated that laser-based additive manufacturing can be exploited to create unique structures containing hexagonal Mo(Si(0.67)Al(0.33))(2).