Using Micro-CT Scanning to Quantitative Characterize Porosity in High Pressure Die Castings and Semi-Solid Castings

Abstract

Porosity is one of the main defects that limits the performance of castings. Porosity in aluminum castings can originate from several sources, including the volumetric shrinkage occurring during solidification, the precipitation of dissolved hydrogen, and entrapment of gasses such as air, boiling water, vaporized lubricants, etc. Traditional methods of identifying and measuring porosity in castings include 2D x-rays, sectioning and polishing, and Archimedes density measurements, but none of these provide a satisfactory quantitative estimate of the size, total volume and distribution of the pores. X-ray CT scanning is a relatively new method that generates not only a 3-dimensional view of the size and distribution of the pores, but can also provide quantitative information of the volume, surface area, size, shape and position of each pore within a casting. Micro-CT scanning is a specialized sub-category of CT scanning, which provides excellent resolution of fine porosity (a resolution limit of 4 microns in one of the case-stores presented in this paper), but it should be noted that the resolution limit in CT scanning techniques is related to sample size. This paper describes results from micro-CT scanning studies of two high pressure die castings and a semi-solid casting, and provides quantitative data on the total porosity content, and the porosity distribution. The paper will also demonstrate the capabilities of the micro-CT scanning process to provide a quantitative comparison of the porosity content in these different types of aluminum castings.