Joining of Sip/6063Al composite using additive manufacturing-based laser melting deposition

•A novel joining method based on additive manufacturing was proposed.•The Sip/6063Al composite with 3mm thickness was successfully joined using this new method.•Flower-like, little blocky and polygonal primary silicon were detected in the fusion zone.•Tensile strength of the joint was 41.6MPa reaching 78.9% of that of the base composite. Additive manufacturing-based laser melting deposition was proposed creatively to fabricate a layer-by-layer weld bead in order to join Sip/6063Al composite in this paper. The joint with free of cracks and few of pores was formed. Fusion zone of the joint was mainly composed of primary silicon, α-Al and (Al, Si) eutectic phases. Three kinds of different characteristic solidified morphologies flower-like, little blocky and polygonal primary silicon phases were detected in the fusion zone, all of them were surrounded by α-Al phase closely. Tensile strength of the welded joint was about 41.6MPa as high as 78.9% of that of the base Sip/6063Al composite.