Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technology, which is capable of producing
functional prototypes with complex geometries and thin structural walls. In SLM technology metallic powders are
molten in layers by laser energy in order to produce dense metal parts. Aluminium as a lightweight construction
material is very attractive for manufacturing parts characterized by good mechanical properties and a good weight
ratio. The significant increase in the usage of aluminium alloys in manufacturing can also be explained by their
relatively low cost to specific strength ratio. However up to now there is no breakthrough in processing high
strength Al alloys by SLM method. This work presents new powder system developments and a process
qualification in order to get parts with high strength and super-high-strength aluminium alloys and functionally
gradient material properties (FGMs). Powder systems with different particle size and distribution of elementary
components were used to produce alloys during laser melting with different microstructural conditions. The next
challenge for SLM is using metal powders characterized by different size of particles in one and the same plane.
This can be realized due to our custom developed Al-Cu / Al-Zn compositions.