Application of Additive Manufacturing to long fibers Metal Matrix Composites

The present thesis aims at verifying the possibility to combine the fabrication of long fibres Metal Matrix Composites with the innovative design possibilities provided by the Additive Manufacturing technology. This work documents how all the main physical and chemical interactions, defects and processing products are created starting from inputs until achieving the final mechanical and microstructure outputs. Firstly, the process limitations of SLM and of the fabrication of long fibres MMCs are evaluated through a deep study of the whole complex of variables characterizing the technologies. Secondly, thanks to the knowledge gained, a description of the possibility to combine these two technologies is made. Flowcharts are created and evaluated in order to obtain clear and simple mental schemes to understand how all variables impact on the manufacturing processes. The results achieved will help to comprehend how these processes may interact together and from this it will be possible to lay the foundations for future research.