Casting defects and fatigue strength of a die cast aluminium alloy.pdfVIP

International Journal of Fatigue 24 (2002) 1–9 /locate/ijfatigue Casting defects and fatigue strength of a die cast aluminium alloy: a comparison between standard specimens and production components M. Avalle, G. Belingardi, M.P. Cavatorta *, R. Doglione Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy Received 9 April 2001; received in revised form 26 July 2001; accepted 31 July 2001 Abstract The influence of casting defects on static and fatigue strength is investigated for a high pressure die cast aluminium alloy. Defects exist in gas and shrinkage pores as well as cold fills, dross and alumina skins. For the three batches of specimens, differing for the sprue–runner design, the influence was straightforward, while no significant variation in the fatigue strength was observed when looking at batches of “acceptable” and “non-acceptable” components, as judged within the foundry quality control. In this case, defects count for their size and location, while quality control often takes no account for component working conditions. The Haigh diagram shows a good matching between the specimen reference material and the component fatigue data.  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Die casting; Porosity; Casting defects; Fatigue; Aluminium 1. Introduction erally acknowledged that the fatigue strength of materials containing defects is lower than that of a defect High pressure die casting is widely used for the possi-