Pore Size Distribution and the Fatigue Properties of Several Cast Aluminum Alloys

Abstract

The population and size of porosities in three kinds of cast aluminum alloys, i.e. A713, A356T6-1 and A356T6-2, were statistically measured using a commercial software Spirit, and several distribution functions were tried to fit the cumulative pore size distribution data. It was found that a general extreme value (GEV) distribution function was the most appropriate function to quantify the cumulative pore size distribution in these cast aluminum alloys. The stress-number of cycles to failure (S-N) curves of these alloys were characterized by four point bend fatigue testing on MTS810 materials testing system, with the parameter f=20Hz, R=0.1, and in ambient air. The fatigue strength of A713, A356T6-1 and A356T6-2 aluminum alloy was measured to be 94.5 MPa, 150.6MPa and 117.3MPa respectively. The fatigue properties of these alloys could not be evaluated just by population and size distribution of the pores, the microstructure state, shape and position of pores, and other weakest links that may initiate a fatigue crack should be taken into account synthetically.