Relationship between ultrasonic characteristics and relative porosity in Al and Al-XSi alloys

Abstract

Pores form readily in aluminum alloy castings. The percentage of porosity is often used to quantitatively evaluate the quality of aluminum alloy castings. In this study, the relative porosity, as represented by the percentage of porosity in Al and Al-XSi alloys is evaluated. Nondestructive ultrasonic techniques are adopted to investigate the relative porosity of Al and Al-XSi alloys. The relationship between the relative porosity and ultrasonic characteristics, including the ultrasonic velocity and the attenuation coefficient, are determined and compared, and the pore formation in the alloys is also discussed. ©2009 The Japan Institute of Metals.