X-ray computed tomography vs. metallography for pore sizing and fatigue of cast Al-alloys

Pores associated to the casting process are highly detrimental to the fatigue behavior of Al–Si alloys. The severity of casting pores in fatigue is related to a number of factors, such as pore size, morphology, position within the cast part, etc.. Metallography is readily applied to statistical pore characterization. However, random 2-D sections through pores do not provide good estimates of the defect size without further data analysis. In this...