Synergistic control of acoustic beam and solution-aging on WAAM ZL114A aluminum alloy microstructure and strength-ductility balance mechanism
Source abstract
Abstract
• The grain refinement mechanism of acoustic beam control WAAM ZL114A Al alloy. • Proposing synergistic control of acoustic beam and solid solution aging as an innovative strategy for microstructure and hydrogen-induced porosity control. • Elucidation of the strength-ductility synergy mechanism of WAAM ZL114A under acoustic beam-solution-aging synergistic control. This research introduces acoustic beam control into the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) of ZL114A aluminum alloy. It investigates the synergistic effects of solution-aging heat treatment on microstructure, porosity, and mechanical properties. Acoustic streaming homogenizes solute fields, thereby suppressing columnar growth. Ultrasonic cavitation fragments dendrites and provides heterogeneous nucleation substrates. Together, these effects drive a pronounced transition from columnar to equiaxed. For as-deposited specimens, acoustic beam control increases microhardness, tensile strength, and elongation by 22%, 37%, and 44%, respectively. It reduces porosity by 64.3%. After solution-aging heat treatment, the tensile and yield strengths reach 350 MPa and 282 MPa, respectively. These values exceed those without acoustic beam control (332 MPa and 264.5 MPa). The microhardness reaches 123.5 HV. Although solution-aging heat treatment increases porosity in both groups, specimens with acoustic beam control maintain lower porosity (11.3%). Acoustic beam control effectively suppresses hydrogen-induced porosity, reducing porosity by 57.8% in heat-treated specimens. As-deposited specimens with acoustic beam control exhibit excellent strength-ductility synergy. Their fracture surfaces are dominated by fine and uniformly distributed equiaxed dimples, the ductile fracture characterized by micro-void coalescence (MVC).
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes · Aluminum Alloy Microstructure Properties · Advanced Welding Techniques Analysis
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (43)
Show source-provided references
1. A review of deep learning in metal additive manufacturing: Impact on process, structure, and properties10.1016/j.pmatsci.2025.101587 ↗
2. Content effects of in-situ synthesis TiC on mechanical properties improvement of wire arc additive manufactured Al-Cu alloys under optimized heat treatment10.1016/j.msea.2025.149304 ↗
3. Additive manufacturing of metals: Microstructure evolution and multistage control10.1016/j.jmst.2021.06.011 ↗
4. Effect of TiC particles on microstructure and wear performance of Al-5Mg alloy fabricated by wire arc additive manufacturing10.1016/j.coco.2025.102607 ↗
5. Achieving material diversity in wire arc additive manufacturing: leaping from alloys to composites via wire innovation10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2023.104103 ↗
6. Research progress on wire arc additive manufactured Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys: Metallurgical defects, refining grains, enhancing mechanical properties
7. Porosity in cored-wire-arc directed energy deposition of TiC/Al composite: formation mechanism and inhibition strategy10.1080/17452759.2024.2449169 ↗
8. Effect of single and double stage homogenization treatments on microstructure and properties of wire + arc additively manufactured 2319 Al alloy10.1016/j.matchar.2024.114389 ↗
9. Improvement of forming quality, microstructure, and mechanical performance of high-efficient wire-arc additive manufactured Al–5%Mg alloy assisted by oscillating alternating magnetic field10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.03.240 ↗
10. Magnetic field and in-situ hot rolling assisted wire arc additive manufacturing of Al–Mg alloy thin-walled parts: external morphology and internal quality10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.06.169 ↗
11. Microstructural control in metal laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing using laser beam shaping strategy10.1016/j.actamat.2019.11.053 ↗
12. Integrated approach to Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) optimization: Harnessing the synergy of process parameters and deposition strategies10.1016/j.jmrt.2024.03.170 ↗
13. Adaptive trajectories generation for additive manufacturing for structural parts with variable thickness10.1016/j.istruc.2025.109980 ↗
14. Oscillating laser beam welding of additively manufactured Al-Cu with hot-rolled Al-Mg dissimilar aluminum alloys: the role of laser beam offset10.1016/j.optlastec.2025.113947 ↗
15. Heat-balance control of friction rolling additive manufacturing based on combination of plasma preheating and instant water cooling10.1016/j.jmst.2024.03.054 ↗
16. Coaxial wire laser directed energy deposition of equiaxed structured titanium alloy with ultrahigh strength and minimal mechanical anisotropy10.1016/j.msea.2026.150006 ↗
17. Particle floating and transfer effect in cored wire arc additive manufacturing: Formation mechanism and laser shock inhibition10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2025.104260 ↗
18. Macro-micro simulation of heat and mass transfer, grain growth during ultrasonic vibration-assisted wire-arc directed energy deposition10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2025.128038 ↗
19. Evolution and elimination of pore in molten pool during directed energy deposition assisted by ultrasonic vibration10.1016/j.optlastec.2024.111454 ↗
20. Ultrafine grain control by ultrasonic vibrations in directed energy deposition10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2025.110925 ↗
21. Influence of ultrasonic vibration on molten pool behavior, cladding layer microstructure and pore defects for directed energy deposition10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.123047 ↗
22. Ultrasonic assisted squeeze casting of a wrought aluminum alloy10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2018.10.032 ↗
23. Microstructural and mechanical properties of ultrasonically assisted titanium-steel dissimilar metal fusion welds10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.01.104 ↗
24. Effect of the deposition process on high-temperature microstructure and properties of the direct energy deposition Al-cu alloy10.3390/met13040765 ↗
25. The strengthening effect of high-energy ultrasound treatment on the additively manufactured ZL114A aluminum alloy
26. Refinement and spheroidization of primary silicon particles in eutectic-divorced hypereutectic Al–Si alloy and their impact on wear resistance10.1007/s11661-025-07898-y ↗
27. A review on scan strategies in laser-based metal additive manufacturing
28. GB/T 228.1-2021; Metallic Materials—Tensile Testing—Part 1: Test Methods at Room Temperature. Standardization Administration of China: Beijing, China, 2021.
29. Combining solution-, precipitation- and load-transfer strengthening in a cast Al-Ce-Mn-Sc-Zr alloy10.1016/j.actamat.2024.119683 ↗
30. Achieving high performance by optimized heat treatment in a spray formed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy10.1016/j.msea.2024.146134 ↗
31. A model for the precipitate transformation of Mg–Si-rich clusters into Mg5Si6 β ″in Al-Mg-Si aluminum alloys10.1088/1361-651X/ad6ea8 ↗
32. The precipitation sequence in Al-Mg-Si alloys10.1016/S1359-6454(98)00059-7 ↗
33. Enhancing strength-ductility synergy in metastable β-Ti alloys through β-subgrains-mediated hierarchical α-precipitation10.1016/j.jmst.2024.08.048 ↗
34. Synchrotron X-ray imaging and ultrafast tomography in situ study of the fragmentation and growth dynamics of dendritic microstructures in solidification under ultrasound10.1016/j.actamat.2021.116796 ↗
35. Ultrasonic-assisted wire arc additive manufacturing significantly improves impact toughness of 5183 aluminum alloy10.1016/j.jmrt.2026.02.115 ↗
36. High-energy acoustic beam-assisted additive manufacturing of ZL114A aluminum alloy for complex components: residual stress reduction and deformation control10.1080/10426914.2026.2639990 ↗
37. Numerical simulation of flow field and temperature field during melt impingement additive solidification process of 7050 aluminum alloy under the influence of forced convection10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.10.149 ↗
38. The role of side-branching in microstructure development in laser powder-bed fusion10.1038/s41467-020-14453-3 ↗
39. Microscale residual stresses in additively manufactured stainless steel10.1038/s41467-019-12265-8 ↗
40. Porosity in wire-arc directed energy deposition of aluminum alloys: formation mechanisms, influencing factors and inhibition strategies
41. Ultrasonic induces grain refinement in gas tungsten arc cladding AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy coatings10.1016/j.msea.2021.141607 ↗
42. Solidified structure and mechanical properties control of 2319 aluminum alloy for ultrasonic vibration-assisted arc-directed energy deposition with different amplitudes10.1016/j.msea.2025.148265 ↗
43. Investigation on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties Anisotropy of Inconel625 Components Fabricated by Different Frequency Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted CMT arc Additive Manufacturing