Al–Si–Mg based alloys can provide high strength and ductility to satisfy the increasing demands of thin wall castings for automotive applications. This study has investigated the effects of T6 heat-treatment on the microstructures, the local mechanical properties of alloy phases and the fracture behavior of high vacuum die-cast AlSiMgMn alloys using in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in combination with nano-indentation testing. The microstructures of the alloys at as-cast and T6 treated conditions were compared and analyzed. It is found that the T6 heat treatment plays different roles in affecting the hardness and the Young’s modulus of alloy phases. This study also found that the T6 heat treatment would influence the failure modes of the alloys. The mechanisms of crack propagation in the as-cast and T6 treated alloys were also analyzed and discussed.

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Die casting process is widely applied in making Al parts. However, due to high speed of liquid metal flow in the die cavity, gases are prone to be entrapped in the filling, resulting in porosity defects. The X-ray computed tomography scanning technique was used to detect the pores in die-cast ADC12 alloys with different intensification pressures. The three-dimensional features of pores including pore size, number, sphericity have been obtained. The effect of different intensification pressures on two different kinds of pores, namely gas-pores and shrinkage pores, was analyzed. The results show that with increasing the pressure, the pore fractions and quantity gradually decrease. When the pressure increased to 85 MPa, the pores from gas entrapment during the mold filling were compressed, leading to a lower porosity fraction. The pressure cannot affect the pores in the samples with a thin wall (2 mm) due to a great solidification rate.

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In this study, the pores in die-cast AlSiMgMn alloys were inspected and reconstructed with high resolution three-dimensional (3D) X-ray micro computed tomograpgy (μ-CT) technique. Finite element (FE) meshes were built with consideration of the pore actural morphorloges from the CT inspection. Based on dutile damage model, the FE simulation of tensile fracture of the alloys was carried out. The simulation results were compared and verified with the tensile of in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The two results are agreement in the main crack path and pores on the fracture. With the pore-scale simulation, the effects of pore characteristics on the stress distributions and crack initiation and growth during the tensile were analyzed. It was found that the pores of lower sphericity and larger project area in tensile axis direction are prone to form microcracks and promote main crack deflection. The results also show that aggregation of brittle alpha-Fe intermetallics of the alloys also has important influence on the main crack propagation.