In the last years there has been an increasing interest in the processing of aluminum alloys by means of additive manufacturing processes for industrial applications, i.e. in sectors like automotive, aerospace and space. The main reasons for the increasing demand of these alloys are the high specific strength, which makes this material interesting for lightweight construction, and the good corrosion resistance to salt water. Aluminium alloys are therefore mainly used in the aerospace sector, rail transport and the automotive in-dustry to reduce weight and energy consumption in operation, but also as a construction material.

Aluminium is conventionally processed by casting or as sheet metal. The sheets are joined, for example, by riveting, metal inert gas welding (MIG) or tungsten inert gas welding (TIG). Since around 2005, laser weld-ing has become more and more widespread, starting with its use for joining aircraft parts such as the Airbus A380. With the spread of metallic additive manufacturing processes, aluminium alloys are also being tested more frequently. In order to increase the material utilisation of the powdery filler material of additive pro-cesses, the European funded EIT-KIC Raw Materials SAMOA project focuses on powder recycling. Howev-er, the different melting points of the aluminium oxide layer and aluminium and the reduction of gas inclu-sions in the molten bath are additive manufacturing challenges.

For this purpose, different weldable aluminium alloys will be considered and researched, starting with the powder material up to basic material properties.