Strength and Ductility Enhancement by Mo Addition to an Al-Ce Alloy Designed for Additive Manufacturing

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2025

Publisher

Elsevier

Source Publication

Materials Science and Engineering: A

Source ISSN

0921-5093

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2025.149004

Abstract

Ternary Al-9.0Ce-xMo (x = 0.2, 0.6, and 1.0 wt%) alloys were first explored using the CALPHAD approach for additive manufacturing (AM) and each alloy was experimentally examined through gas atomization, powder bed fusion – laser beam (PBF-LB), microstructural analysis, and mechanical behavior assessment. Alloying with Mo was found to markedly increase the ease of PBF-LB for nearly fully dense samples. Room temperature tensile testing of the alloys demonstrated that Mo additions circumvented the typical strength-ductility trade off by increasing both the strength and ductility. A small addition of 0.2 wt% Mo to the Al-9.0Ce alloy increased the yield strength from 222.1 ± 1.6 MPa to 234.0 ± 4.4 MPa, elongation at failure from 10.8 ± 0.1 % to 16.8 ± 0.2 %, and toughness from 31.7 ± 0.3 MPa to 46.0 ± 1.0 MPa. Furthermore, adding 1.0 wt% Mo to the Al-9.0Ce alloy increased the yield strength to 266.2 ± 1.6 MPa, elongation to 16.9 ± 0.8 %, and toughness to 49.0 ± 2.1 MPa. Molybdenum up to 0.2 wt% was observed to dissolve within the Al cells, while higher additions (0.6 and 1.0 wt%) led to the formation of the ternary Al20CeMo2 intermetallic phase. Accompanying mechanism-based strengthening quantification and detailed microstructure analyses offered insights into the increase in both strength and ductility based on distribution of Mo in the Al, Al11Ce3, and Al20CeMo2 phases. This work demonstrates small additions of Mo may serve as a platform for further strengthening of Al-Ce-based PBF-LB alloys while maintaining high ductility.

Comments

Materials Science & Engineering, Vol. 945 (November 2025). DOI.

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