Influence of intensification pressures on pores in die-cast ADC12 alloys

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.