Blown powder deposition of 4047 aluminum on 2024 aluminum substrates

Aluminum and its alloys are difficult to deposit with the aid of lasers owing to their high reflectivity to incident light. This research deposits aluminum 4047 powder on widely-used aluminum 2024. The research concluded with successful blown powder deposition of aluminum 4047 thin wall structures using fiber lasers thereby proving feasibility of deposition and the bonding of two dissimilar aluminum alloys. Metallographic analysis conducted on the thin wall structures shows a distinct lack of porosity which leads to favorable material characteristics. Micro-hardness estimation is used to support the argument. Finally, scanning electron microscopy was employed to ascertain material distribution.