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A new methodology is presented for computer simulations of microstructures that incorporates realistic complex particle morphologies/shapes and a specified realistic two-point correlation function. The technique also enables simulations of sufficiently large microstructural windows that include short-range (on the order of particle size) as well as long-range (few hundred times the particle size) microstructural heterogeneities and spatial patterns. Incorporation of such simulated microstructural windows in the finite element-based computations leads to local stresses and strains that have distributions statistically similar to those resulting from the corresponding real microstructure. Therefore, these microstructure simulations provide realistic representative volume elements for computational parametric studies.

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The serial sectioning technique is well known for the reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) microstructures of opaque materials. In recent years, techniques also have been developed for the reconstruction of high-fidelity, large-volume segments of 3D microstructures that use montage serial sections and robot-assisted automated acquisitions of montage serial sections. This article reports the reconstruction of the multiphase, multiscale 3D microstructure of a permanent mold cast unmodified Al-12 wt pct Si-1 wt pct Ni base alloy that contains eutectic Si platelets, coarse primary polyhedral Si particles, Fe-rich script intermetallic particles, and pores. These constituents are segmented, reconstructed, rendered, and characterized in three dimensions. The estimated 3D microstrucutral attributes include the distribution of eutectic platelet thickness; the mean volume, mean surface area, and mean thickness of the eutectic Si platelets; the mean volume and the mean surface area of the polyhedral primary Si particles; and the mean number of faces, edges, and corners on the polyhedral primary Si particles.