Predicting gas and shrinkage porosity in solidification microstructure:A coupled three-dimensional cellular automaton model

Porosity formation during solidification of aluminum-based alloys,due to hydrogen gas and alloy shrinkage,has been a major issue adversely affecting the performance of solidification products such as castings,welds or additively manufactured components.A three-dimensional cellular automaton(CA)model has been developed,for the first time,to couple the predictions of hydrogen-induced gas porosity and shrinkage porosity during solidification microstructure evolution of a binary Al-Si alloy.The CA simulation results are validated under various cooling rates by porosity measurements in an experimental wedge die casting using X-ray micro computed tomography(XMCT)technique.This validated porosity moel provides a critical link in integrated computation materials engineering(ICME)design and manufacturing of solidification products.