ABSTRACT
Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM), a niche technology within the additive manufacturing area, offers the manufacturing industry a different approach for creating lightweight metal-based structures incorporating dissimilar metals, nonmetallic materials, smart materials, and intricate features that are difficult to produce through conventional means. A key benefit of UAM as a technology for 3D printing of metals and joining of dissimilar materials is that process temperatures are low, typically less than one half of the melting temperature of aluminum alloys. Fundamental investigations in the field of UAM are aimed at creating an exact understanding of the process and to develop experimental approaches and models to describe the relationship between process conditions and build properties. The microstructure of UAM built structures has been extensively investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Heat treatments on UAM components have shown an ability to improve mechanical and microstructural properties.
