Porosity is known to be one of the primary detrimental factors controlling fatigue life and total elongation of several cast alloy components. The two main aims of this work are to examine pore nucleation and growth effects for predicting gas microporosity and to study the physics of bifilm dynamics to gain understanding in the role of bifilms in producing defects and the mechanisms of defect creation. In the second chapter of this thesis, an innovative technique, based on the combination of a set of conservation equations that solves the transport phenomena during solidification at the macro-scale and the hydrogen diffusion into the pores at the micro-scale, was used to quantify the amount of gas microporosity in A356 alloy castings. The results were compared with published experimental data. In the reminder of this work, the Immersed Element-Free Galerkin method (IEFGM) is presented and it was used to study the physics of bifilm dynamics. The IEFGM is an extension of the Immersed Finite Element method (IFEM) developed by Zhang et al. [50] and it is an attractive technique for simulating FSI problems involving highly deformable bifilm-like solids.

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The use of aluminum is a key factor in creating an Eco-friendlier automotive industry. The material has good properties and the ability to reuse the material. The requirement on the material in this industry is very high, due to the exposed working environments. The usage of aluminum will reduce the vehicle’s weight, which in turn will reduce emissions.    Aluminum casting is not free from obstacles. The properties can be altered with different casting methods and the design of the casting to a great extent. This master will focus on how the melt quality will have an impact on the material properties and how it is changed during the process. To fully understand what happens to the melt during the casting process, samples are received at different stages for further investigation. Different data is collected to be able to analyze what happens during the process. A quality measurement called the Quality index is used to determine the change in the quality in the different stages. With data from bifilm and density index, conclusions can be made on how and where the impurities are entering the melt and their effect. A conclusion is made that the degassing harms the quality of the melt.

Bifilms is the oxide layer created between two surfaces in the melt of light metals that form an oxide layer. These become planar inclusions in the final casting and are problematic for the mechanical properties such as cracks and crack initiations. Bifilms are too thin to be viewed properly in two dimension cross-section method as they will only appear as thin lines. Because of this, it is relevant to test if it is possible to use electrolytic extraction (EE) as a alternative method to investigate bifilms. Both the deeply etched surface and the inclusions on a filter from the extraction are looked at in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to get an understanding of the size and shape of the inclusions. With this, a greater understanding of these types of defects can be achieved. After both the filtered inclusions and the surface are examined in SEM with images and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), the images are measured in the software ImageJ. The measurements and analysis show that it is probably bifilms and that they can be relatively large, and not so circular. However, the measurements with the filter have shown high levels of oxygen and carbon. Some levels of chlorine, nitrogen and iron have also been found. But if the surface is compared to the metal surface, it can be concluded that it is likely that bifilms have been found. There are sufficient levels of aluminum and oxygen present. Images in SEM also show the appearance of film-like inclusions. If the method of electrolytic extraction is to be improved to investigate bifilms,optimizations such as filters of other compositions are recommended. / Bifilms är det oxidskikt som skapas mellan två ytor i smältan hos lätta metaller som bildar ett oxidskikt. Dessa blir sedan plana inneslutningar i den slutliga gjutningen och är problematiskt för de mekaniska egenskaperna i form av sprickor och sprickinitieringar. Bifilms är för tunna för att de ska kunna ses korrekt i en tvärsnittsmetod, eftersom de bara kommer att visas som tunna linjer. På grund av detta är det relevant att testa om det är möjligt att använda elektrolytisk extraktion (EE) som en alternativ metod. Både den djupt etsade ytan och inneslutningarna på ett filter från extraktionen tittas på i svepelektronmikroskop för att få en förståelse för inneslutningarnas storlek och form. I och med det kan en högre förståelse uppnås för dessa typer av defekter. Efter att både de filtrerade inneslutningarna och ytan granskats i SEM med bilder och Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), mäts bilderna i en mjukvara, ImageJ. De mätningarna och analyserna visar att det antagligen hittats bifilms och att de kan vara förhållandevis stora, samt inte så cirkulära. Däremot har mätningarna med filtret visat höga halter av syre och kol. Även vissa halter av klor, kväve och järn har hittats. Men om ytan jämförs med metallytan så kan en slutsats dras om att det är troligt att bifilms har hittats. Där finns tillräckliga halter av aluminium och syre. Även bilder i SEM påvisar filmliknande inneslutningar till sitt utseende. Om metoden med elektrolytisk extraktion ska förbättras för att undersöka bifilms behövs optimeringar, som till exempel filterav en annan sammansättning.

Aluminum alloy castings are being integrated increasingly into automotive and aerospace assemblies due to their extraordinary properties, especially high strength-to-density ratio. To produce high quality castings, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of the formation of defects, specifically pores and inclusion, in aluminum. There have been numerous studies on pore formation during solidification which lead to hot tearing and/or reduction in mechanical properties. However, a comprehensive study that correlates pore formation theory with in situ observations and modeling assumptions from the literature as well as experimental observations in not available. The present study is motivated to fill this gap. An in-depth discussion of pore formation is presented in this study by first reinterpreting in situ observations reported in the literature as well as assumptions commonly made to model pore formation in aluminum castings. The physics of pore formation is reviewed through theoretical fracture pressure calculations based on classical nucleation theory (i) for homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, and (ii) with and without dissolved gas, i.e., hydrogen. Based on the fracture pressure for aluminum, critical pore size and corresponding probability of vacancies clustering to form the critical-size pore have been calculated by using thermodynamic data reported in the literature. Calculations show that it is impossible for a pore to nucleate either homogeneously or heterogeneously in aluminum, even with dissolved hydrogen. The formation of pores in aluminum castings can only be explained by inflation of entrained surface oxide films entrained during prior damage to liquid aluminum (bifilms) under reduced pressure and/or with dissolved gas, which involves only growth, avoiding any nucleation problem. This mechanism is consistent with reinterpretations of in situ observations as well as assumptions made in the literature to model pore formation. To determine whether damage to liquid aluminum by entrainment of surface oxides can be observed and measured, Reduced Pressure Tests (RPT) have been conducted by using high quality, continuously cast A356.0 aluminum alloys ingots. Analyses of RPT samples via micro-computer tomography (μ-CT) scanning have demonstrated that number of pores and volume fraction of pore in aluminum casting increased by raising the pouring height (i.e., velocity of the liquid). Moreover, pore size distributions were observed to be lognormal, consistent with the literature. Cross-sections of RPT samples have been investigated via scanning electron microscopy. In all cases, the presence of oxygen was detected inside, around and between the pores. The existence of oxide films inside all pores indicates that oxide films act as initiation sites for pores and hydrogen only assist to growth of pores. For the first time, the pore formation is reconciled with physical metallurgy principles, supported by observations of oxide films in aluminum castings. Results clearly indicate that pores are extrinsic defects and can be eliminated by careful design of the entire melting and casting process.

Tensile deformation characteristics of cast aluminum alloys have been investigated extensively. Cast Mg alloys have remained mostly neglected by researchers, despite their potential for weight savings. This present study is motivated by this gap in the literature and consists of two stages; in Stage 1, analysis of tensile data gathered from literature were reanalyzed, and in Stage 2, data generated from tensile testing of 60 specimens of AZ91 Mg alloy castings in both T4 and T6 conditions were analyzed to characterize work hardening behavior. In Stage 1, more than 1600 data were collected from the literature for various Mg alloy families. After plotting these data in yield strength-elongation charts, highest points were identified and interpreted as the maximum ductility, i.e., ductility potential (eFmax). The trend in maximum points indicated a linear relationship with yield strength (σY), expressed as; eF(max) = 41.8 - 0.106σY (1) This ductility potential equation can be used as a metric to compare elongation obtained from tensile specimens to measure the structural quality of Mg alloy castings. Moreover, results indicated that ductility potential was not affected by heat treatment, grain size (within 30-120 μm), casting geometry, size, the type of casting process nor chemical composition. In Phase 2, AZ91 cast Mg alloy specimens in T4 and T6 conditions were tested in tension to obtain stress-strain data for each specimen. Fits of four constitutive equations, namely, the Hollomon, Voce, Ludwik and Swift, to true stress-true plastic strain data in the elastoplastic region were characterized for the specimens with highest elongation values for T4 and T6 specimens. The coefficient of determination, R2, values for all equations were in excess of 0.99, suggesting that all four equations provide excellent fits to tensile data in both conditions. The change in work hardening rate with true stress was investigated for all specimens by using Kocks-Mecking (KM) plots. It was determined that work hardening behavior of Mg alloy castings in T4 and T6 is distinctly different. In T4 specimens, there is a plateau in work hardening rate at approximately E/25 which was observed in all specimens. The presence of this plateau is consistent with results given in the literature for pure Mg. However, this plateau was not observed in any of the T6 specimens. The reasons for the absence of the plateau in T6 specimens are unknown at this time. In both T4 and T6 specimens, the KM work hardening model in which work hardening rate changes linearly with true stress was found to be applicable. This is the first time that KM model was found to be valid for Mg alloys. Moreover in all specimens, there was a sudden drop in work hardening rate just prior to final fracture. This drop was first hypothesized to be due to structural defects in specimens, which was subsequently validated via fractography. Structural defects were found in all specimens whose fracture surfaces were investigated, indicating low to medium levels of quality. The quality index method, originally developed for cast aluminum alloys as the ratio of elongation to ductility potential, was found not to be applicable to Mg alloys, at least in its original form. This is due to the fact that work hardening behavior of cast aluminum alloys follows the KM model and there is no plateau where work hardening rate is constant. Hence the work hardening behavior of cast aluminum alloys and AZ91 specimens in T6 condition was similar. However the plateau of constant work hardening rate had a strong effect on elongation in T4 specimens. Therefore quality index analysis, which is supposed to be independent of alloy condition, did show that T4 and T6 specimens had different quality index levels. This finding contradicted the result from Stage 1 that aging has no effect on ductility potential. However because of the presence of structural defects in all specimens, quality index levels were low (0.30-0.45). Therefore it is unclear at this point whether the work hardening behavior of T4 and T6 specimens would still be different if elongation values were in the proximity of the ductility potential line. More research is needed to characterize work hardening behavior of cast Mg alloys in the absence of major structural defects and also address other questions raised in this study.