Numerical tensile test on a mushy zone sample

Abstract

Time sequences of 3D images of an Al-Cu alloy in the mushy state are obtained using in situ and real-time X-ray microtomography during a tensile test. Surface meshes of phase interfaces are built from these images with the help of a Marching Cubes algorithm. The signed distance to the surface meshes is then computed on a finite element mesh of the volume of the phases. These signed distance functions enable to track the interfaces between the phases in an implicit way. A numerical representation of the real microstructure is thus obtained, allowing to perform a numerical tensile test which is compared with the experimental tensile test. Results retrieve the general dynamic behaviour of the strain field evolution and opens promising perspectives for further interpretations of experimental results based on numerical simulations.