Application of X-ray microtomography to study the influence of the casting microstructure upon the tensile behaviour of an Al-Si alloy

In cast aluminium alloys used in the automotive industry the microstructure inherited from the foundry process has a strong influence on the mechanical properties. In the cylinder heads produced by the Lost Foam Casting process, the microstructure consists of hard intermetallic phases and large gas and microshrinkage pores. To study its influence, full field measurements at the microstructure scale were performed during a tensile test performed in situ under X-ray microtomography. Intermetallics were used as a natural speckle pattern. Feasibility of Digital Volume Correlation on this alloy was proved and the accuracy of the measurement was assessed and discussed in light of the small volume fraction of intermetallics and in comparison with the accuracy of Digital Image Correlation performed on optical images at a finer spatial resolution.