Prediction of Fracture Stress with Regard to Porosity in Cast A356 Alloy

Production of the defect-free casting of aluminium alloys is the biggest challenge. Porosity is known to be the most important defect. Therefore, many cast parts are subjected to several non-destructive tests in order to check their acceptability. There are several standards, yet, the acceptance limit of porosity size and distribution may change according to the customer design and requirements. In this work, the aim was targeted to evaluate the effect of size, location, and distribution of pores on the tensile properties of cast A356 alloy. ANSYS software was used to perform stress analysis where the pore sizes were changed between 0.05 mm to 3 mm by 0.05 mm increments. Additionally, pore number was changed from 1 to 5 where they were placed at different locations in the test bar. Finally, bifilms were placed inside the pore at different sizes and orientations. The stress generated along the pores was recorded and compared with the fracture stress of the A356 alloy. It was found that as the bifilm size was getting smaller, their effect on tensile properties was lowered. On the other hand, as bifilms were larger, their orientation became the dominant factor in determining the fracture.