Numerical, experimental, nondestructive, and image analyses of damage progression in cast A356 aluminum notch tensile bars

Void nucleation, growth, and coalescence in A356 aluminum notch specimens was determined from a combination of experiments, finite element analysis, nondestructive analysis, and image analysis. Notch Bridgman tension experiments were performed on specimens to failure and then other specimens were tested to 90%, 95%, and 98% of the failure load. The specimens were evaluated with nondestructive X-ray tomography and optical image analysis. Finite element simulations of the notch tests were performed with an elastic-plastic internal state variable material model that incorporated the pertinent microstructures (silicon particle volume fraction and size distribution and porosity volume fraction and size distribution). Parametric finite element simulations were performed to give insight into various initial conditions and responses of the notch tensile bars. The various methods all corroborated the same damage progression. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.