High-pressure die-casting (HPDC) AM50 tensile specimens were used to investigate characteristics of gas pores and its effect on mechanical properties of HPDC AM50 magnesium alloy. Combining microstructure morphology gained from optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction with the experimental data from uniaxial tensile testing, we pursued the relationship between gas pores and the mechanical properties of HPDC AM50 Mg alloy. Results indicate that comparing with 3D reconstruction models, 2D images like optical metallography images and SEM images have one-sidedness. Furthermore, the size and maximum areal fraction of gas pores have negative effects on the mechanical properties of HPDC AM50 Mg alloy. With increase of the maximum size of gas pores in the specimen, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation decrease. In addition, with the maximum areal fraction becoming larger, both the UTS and elongation decrease linearly.
Keywords: finite element simulation; magnesium alloy; mechanical properties; three-dimensional reconstruction.