Powder Degradation and Recycling Strategies for Aluminum Alloys in Additive Manufacturing: A Comprehensive Review
Source abstract
Abstract
The growing adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) has increased the demand for efficient and sustainable powder management, particularly for aluminum alloys used in lightweight and high-performance applications. Despite their attractive strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and recyclability, aluminum powders are highly sensitive to degradation during repeated reuse. This review examines the main physical and chemical changes occurring in aluminum alloy powders during AM, including oxidation, morphological evolution, agglomeration, moisture uptake, contamination, and porosity-related effects. Their influence on powder flowability, spreadability, packing behavior, laser absorption, and final part quality is critically discussed. The study also reviews current and emerging powder recycling and reconditioning strategies, including sieving, top-up blending, Hydride–Dehydride processing, plasma spheroidization, annealing, and chemical surface treatments. In addition, best practices for powder handling, storage, and quality assessment are summarized to support reliable reuse. Particular attention is given to aluminum powders used in laser powder bed fusion. Unlike earlier reviews that address powder degradation, recycling, or aluminum AM separately, this review provides an integrated framework connecting degradation mechanisms, reconditioning strategies, and qualification methods for reused aluminum powders. It also highlights key knowledge gaps and future directions for developing more reliable and sustainable powder lifecycle management in aluminum-based AM.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes · Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies · Aluminum Alloy Microstructure Properties
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
Funding
Italian Ministry of University and Research
References (100+)
Show source-provided references
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