Increase in the Compressive Deformability of Al–Sn Alloy Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion Through Partial Substitution of Tin with Lead

A comprehensive study was conducted by the research team of the Laboratory of Physics of Powder Materials Consolidation to investigate the effect of substituting 5 vol.% of tin with cheaper lead on the microstructural evolution and the resulting mechanical properties of an Al–20Sn (vol.%) alloy fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The relevance of the present study is driven by the fact that developing novel lightweight aluminum anti-friction alloys with enhanced functional properties can significantly reduce friction and wear losses, thereby yielding substantial economic benefits.
It was found that at low volumetric energy densities applied to the powder bed, the Al-Sn-Pb alloy contains a significant amount of unreacted aluminum regions and pores, which substantially degrades the strength and ductility of the material. Increasing the laser power accelerates the mixing of the powder components, resulting in the formation of a three-phase composite with a fine-grained microstructure and a porosity of less than 1.5%. Consequently, the ultimate strength of the Al-15Sn-5Pb alloy increased to 100 MPa, matching that of the two-phase SLM-fabricated Al-20Sn alloy containing an equivalent amount of the soft phase; however, the ductility of the Al-15Sn-5Pb alloy was three times higher, reaching approximately 11%. The characteristics of plastic flow during compression testing and the primary fracture mechanisms of the alloys are discussed.

This work was carried out within the framework of the State Assignment of ISPMS SB RAS, project No. FWRW-2026-0009.
Rusin N.M., Skorentsev A.L., Akimov K.O., Dmitriev A.I. Increase in the Compressive Deformability of Al–Sn Alloy Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion Through Partial Substitution of Tin with Lead.  Journal of Alloys and Compounds (2026). (Impact Factor 6.7, Q1 Scopus, WLL 1).