Materials Science and Engineering, A173 (1993) 261-266 261

Statistical distributions of fracture strengths of cast A1-7Si-Mg alloy

N. R. G r e e n a n d J. C a m p b e l l
School of Metallurgy and Materials, and 1RC in Materials for High Performance Applications, University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B I 5 2TT (UK)

Abstract

AI-7Si-Mg alloy vertically cast test bars were produced in dry sand moulds by top filling (TF), turbulent bottom filling
(TBF) and turbulence-free bottom filling (TFBF) with filtered metal. The test bars were heat treated prior to tensile
testing. Scanning electron microscopy examination of polished sections showed that all the test bars contained tangled
networks of oxide films which are seen to constitute cracks within the metal. They are more prevalent in the TF and TBF
castings. A large number of anomalous features are observed on all fracture surfaces. These are oxide films produced
during filling and entrained in the casting. The best description of the skewed distributions of tensile strengths of each set
of castings was obtained with the Weibull distribution. Weibull slopes of 11, 20 and 38 were obtained for the TF, TBF and
TFBF castings respectively.

1. Introduction 2.1. The normal distribution

The effect of entrained oxide films produced during
turbulent mould filling on the mechanical properties of
cast aluminium alloys has recently been demonstrated
[1 ], but there exists no quantification of the effect of the
occluded dry-side-to-dry-side oxide films proposed by
Campbell [2]. High reliability aluminium alloy castings
are obtained by bottom filling a sand mould at an initial
ingate velocity less than or equal to 0.5 m s- 1. Exceed-
ing this critical velocity during bottom filling, or top
pouring a distance of more than 12.5 mm, results in
conditions of surface turbulence and entrained oxide
films [ 1].
When a large number of mechanical tests are per-
formed on metals, ceramics or glasses, the measured
strengths are not normally singular but are scattered
about a median value. Statistical techniques are often
used to describe the distribution of the data, though
which distribution function is best for castings is
unclear. It is necessary to determine which of several
statistical distributions best describe the scatter of
tensile test data and allows discrimination between
~good' and 'bad' castings.
2. Statistical distributions of fracture strengths
There have been a number of attempts to describe
the distribution of scattered data as are typically found
from attempts to measure the strengths of materials.
Three of the more important are listed below.
The probability distribution of the error of a series of
measurements in an experimental system was first
derived by Gauss. It is called the normal distribution.
An example is the cumulative distribution of failures in
a tensile test,
Fn = ~ exp - ~ o
-oo
where/~ is the sample mean value and o is the standard
deviation of the sample. For a set of measurements in
which the scatter is purely the result of random experi-
mental errors, a plot of F N vs. fracture strength would
produce a straight line plot on normal probability
paper.
2.2. The Weibull distribution
To describe data that are skewed about their mean
value, the Weibull distribution [3] is often used. This
can be summarized in the two-parameter form as
exp[ J
where F w is the fraction of specimens failed at or
below a given value of x, e.g. a measured ultimate tensile
strength (UTS), o is a characteristic value of x at which
62.8% of the population of specimens have failed and
2 is the Weibull modulus. Rearranging, it is possible to
obtain the value 2 from a plot of ln{ln [1/(1 - F w )]} vs.
ln(x). This produces a straight line plot of slope 2 and

/)921-5093/93/$6.00 © 1993 - Elsevier Sequoia. All rights reserved

262 N. R. Green, J. ('amphell
intercept - m / n ( o ) . The greater the value of 2, the
narrower is the range of the data.
2.3. 7he type 1 extreme vahw distribution
The cumulative distribution of the distribution can
be expressed in the form
=ex I-
where x is the fracture stress, kt is a position parameter
and o is a width parameter. A straight line with slope
- 1 / o and intercept / a / a is obtained by plotting
In[ - In( b] )] vs. x.
3. Method
LM25 aluminium alloy (A1-7Si-0.42Mg) castings
were produced in urethane-bonded silica sand moulds.
Three batches of specimens were cast using the follow-
ing mould filling methods: top filling (TF), bottom
filling at a metal velocity greater than 0.5 m s ', prob-
ably resulting in some surface turbulence (turbulent
bottom filling, TBF), and bottom filling through a filter
at an initial metal velocity less than 0.5 m s ~ under
conditions effectively turbulence free, denoted turbu-
lent-free bottom filling (TFBF). Fifty test bars were
produced using each method. A schematic diagram of
the mould is shown in Fig. 1. The test bars were
105 mm long with a diameter of 12.5 ram. After melt-
ing, the metal was held at approximately 700 °C for a
minimum of 30 min, before rapidly heating it to a cast-
ing temperature in the range 735-750 °C.
After casting, all specimens were subjected to X-ray
radiography to check for reasonable soundness. They
were then heat treated (solution: 740 °C for 6 h; water
quench, precipitation: 160 °C for 4 h). A number of
bars were examined using optical microscopy and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the remain-
der machined to produce round bar tensile test speci-
mens conforming to British Standard BSEN 10002
Part 1. The specimens were tensile tested using a
computer-controlled 100 kN servohydraulic testing
machine. 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.5% proof stresses were
measured using a clip extensometer, together with the
UTS and plastic strain at fracture.
4. Results
4.1. Microstructures
The microstructures of the cast alloy were all very
similar. Each specimen contains aluminium dendrites,
Al-I=e-Si and A I - F e - M n - S i intermetallics, an A1-Si
/ Fracture strength of casl AI- Z%i-Mg alloy
Plan View
~-,:..... ~-~.... .-.-~-d~ r4+~-=.... :-=-,---.---,
SchematicsectionXX'
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram and section !XX') of mouM used to
produce TFBF castings.
binary eutectic and a small volume fraction of the ter-
nary AI-Si-Mg2Si eutectic. In general the micro-
structures were free from non-metallic inclusions.
However, by carrying out searches over wide areas of
polished sections, each of the three types of castings
was also observed to contain complex tangled
networks of oxide films. An optical micrograph of such
a film is shown in Fig. 2(a) and a closer SEM view in
Fig. 2(b).
SEM images of the fracture surfaces are presented
in Figs. 3 and 4. Figure 3(a) shows a region of the frac-
ture typical of an A1-Si alloy. Figure 3(b) shows areas
of the fracture in which there are large discontinuities
in the fracture surface. Figure 4(a) is a close-up of one
such area after the specimen had been rotated to place
this part of the fracture surface perpendicular to the
electron beam. Figure 4(b) is a fractograph of a region
which again shows an anomalous fracture surface
morphology.
4.2. Mechanical properties
In this paper the statistical examination is restricted
to the analysis of the UTS data. The difference in the
time between heat treatment and tensile testing of the
batches resulted in a slight variation in the material
properties. Therefore, for statistical analysis, the data
have been normalized to the maximum value of each
 N. R. Green, J. Campbell / Fracturestrength of cast Al- 7Si-Mg alloy
Fig. 2. (a) Optical micrograph of tangled oxide film. (b) SEM
image showing crack-like nature of filling defect.
set. This has also enabled the combination of sets of
data for further analysis.
Frequency plots of the normalized UTS data of each
specimen set are shown in Fig. 5. The data from the
TBF and TF castings have also been combined to pro-
duce a data set of 85 specimens. This is shown in Fig.
5(d). In every instance it is noted that the distribution of
the data is not symmetric about a mean. Even with 85
samples the shape of the frequency curve was found to
be sensitive to the ranges used to draw each of the bars
on the graphs. Generally the T F B F castings are skewed
263
Fig. 3. (a) Typical SEM fracture surface morphology of an
A1-7Si-0.42Mg alloy (secondary electron image (SEI)). (b) Area
of fracture surface in which large discontinuities are observed
(SEI).
towards the higher vales, while the TF and TBF cast-
ings have a maximum frequency of UTS in a lower
range which is also less well defined.
4.3. Statistical description of UTS data
The UTS data obtained from each casting method
have been analysed using each of the statistical distri-
butions described above and their 'goodness of fit' to
each is described by the regression coefficient. Prior to
plotting the data, each of the ranked positions of the
264 N. R. Green, J. Campbell
Fig. 4. (a) SEI close-up of area similar to that observed in Fig.
3(b). (b) SEI fractograph of an anomalous area on fracture
surface.
UTS values of each sample of specimens (1 =worst)
was converted to the failure probability of a population
using the relation that, for the jth item in the ranked
data of a total number of specimens n,, the probability
of failure F is given by
j - 0.3
F/---
n, + 0.4
The coefficients giving the best fit to each of the dis-
tributions of all the castings are presented in Table 1. In
/ Fracture strength of cast Al- ZS'i-Mg alloy
addition to analysing the individual data sets, the TF
and TBF data were combined and the five lowest data
points eliminated. Only data points whose fracture
surfaces showed evidence of large pores, which were
considered to have significantly reduced the UTS, were
removed.
The "goodness of fit" of each of the analyses is also
given in Table 1. It can be seen that in every instance
the distribution which provides the best description of
the data is the Weibull two-parameter distribution. In
most instances the type 1 extreme value distribution
has the worst fit to the data. Symmetrical 90% confi-
dence limits were calculated [4] for each of the three
mould filling methods.
5. Discussion
The difference between the tensile strengths of the
TFBF and TBF sets of castings is clearly quantified by
the Weibull distribution. The Weibull moduli of the
respective sets of castings are 37.7 and 19.7. The
Weibull modulus of the TF castings is 10.8. By combin-
ing the TBF and TF casting data and eliminating the
lowest five data points where the strengths were
adversely affected by gross pores, a Weibull modulus of
20.8 is obtained. The elimination of the data points is
considered to be valid in this set of experiments,
because the study is primarily concerned with the effect
of entrained oxides, and not porosity, on fracture
stress. It is clear that the higher the spread of the UTS
values, the lower is the Weibull modulus. Attempts
were made to model the TF data using two separate
Weibull distributions, one to describe the Weibuil
distribution of fractures associated with gross pores
and one to describe the Weibull distribution of fracture
strengths associated with oxide film filling defects.
However, this requires a larger body of data to obtain
accurate values of 2 and u.
The statistical significance of the differences can be
estimated from the 90% confidence limits. They show
a certainty of difference between TFBF and TBF cast-
ings that exceeds 99%. A similar certainty of difference
exists between TF and TBF castings.
The difference between the moduli of the filtered
castings and the combined bottom-filled and top-
poured castings demonstrates the important role played
by oxide films during the turbulent filling of the mould
cavities. The analysis shows that the bonom filling at a
velocity greater than the critical velocity of 0.5 m s ~is
equally as likely to produce bad castings as top pour-
ing. However, the data would perhaps be more accu-
rately comparable if similar TF castings had been
produced with metal filtered during pouring from the
melting crucible.
 N. R. Green, J. Campbell / Fracture strength of cast Al- 7Si-Mg alloy 265

15 15

10

g g

0 0
0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 1.05 0~5 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.g 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 1.05
Range Range
(a) Co),
15
36 Tests
Ill Normalised UTS (MPa/318)

10 10

o 0
055 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 1.05 0.55 0.6 0.65 0,7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 I 1.05
Range Range
(c) (cO
Fig. 5. Frequency plots of normalized UTS data for (a) TF, (b) TBF and (c) TFBF castings and (d) TF÷ TBF castings with lowest five
data points eliminated.

TABLE 1. "Goodness of fit" of normal, Weibull and type 1, maximum extreme value distributions and their associated best-fit
parameters

Casting method Analysis Regression Best-fit

coefficient parameters"

Top filling Normal 0.905 /~ = 0.87742, o = 0.081077

Weibull 0.9599 o=0.9192, 2 = 10.79
Type 1 extreme 0.852 p = 0.8305, a = 0.0838
Turbulent bottom Normal 0.966 p = 0.9268, o = 0.053329
filling Weibull 0.9902 o=0.9517,2 = 19.71
Type 1 extreme 0.899 /~ = 0.8986, o = 0.0505
Turbulence-free Normal 0.93 /~ = 0.9634, or= 0.027441
bottom filling Weibull 0.976 o = 0.9772, 2 = 37.74
Type 1 extreme 0.845 /~ = 0.9474, o = 0.0288
Top filling and Normal 0.987 p = 0.91463, 0 = 0.052288
turbulent bottom Weibull 0.983 0 = 0.9382, 2 = 20.87
fillingb Type l extreme 0.942 /~ = 0.8890. 0 = 0.0453

"Normalized to maximum value in each data set of TF, TBF and TFBF castings; bLowest five data points eliminated.

T h e t a n g l e d n e t w o r k of o x i d e films o b s e r v e d in Fig. the defects. It is p o s s i b l e that t h e r e are two f o r m s of

2 are m o r e p r e v a l e n t i n T F castings. T h i s is s e e n to
c o r r e s p o n d to a l o w e r W e i b u l l m o d u l u s a n d indicates
that the defect d e n s i t y d e t e r m i n e s the tensile strength,
n o t the m e t a l l u r g i c a l p a r a m e t e r s a s s o c i a t e d with heat
t r e a t m e n t . I n this s t u d y it is the oxide films which are
oxide film defect, those w h i c h o r i g i n a t e in the c r u c i b l e
a n d t h o s e f o r m e d in the m o u l d cavity. E v i d e n c e of this
is s e e n in the f r a c t o g r a p h s of Figs. 4(a) a n d 4(b). It was
n o t p o s s i b l e to d e t e r m i n e the failure initiator of each
specimen.
266 N. R. Green, J. Campbell
The potency of each type of oxide defect is not
known. All the tangled networks observed during this
study are like those observed in Fig. 2. On no occasion
was it possible to resolve an oxide film in section. The
SEM image in Fig. 2(b) shows only a crack between the
oxide surfaces. It is known that the thickness of an
oxide film formed on an aluminium melt held for
approximately 60 min is of the order of tenths of
microns [5]. This should have been resolved with SEM
examination. The thickness of an oxide film formed on
an aluminium-magnesium alloy melt during the initial
stages (10 s) of liquid metal oxidation is known to be
approximately 20 nm [6]. Therefore the failure to
observe an oxide film implies that all the tangled oxide
networks observed were formed during conditions of
surface turbulence (metal velocity greater than 0.5 m
s l). The reduction in surface turbulence conditions
results in a reduction in the defect density and reduces
the probability of premature failure. The source of the
tangled oxide film networks in the TFBF castings may
be the initial transient filling stage before the filter is
fully primed. Oxide films formed during this stage of
filling may not be pinned to the mould walls and may
remain free to move with the flowing metal. It is
observed that even higher values of modulus could be
obtained if techniques could be devised to eliminate
these transient difficulties associated with the early
stages of filling of the running system. The control
achievable using uphill filling by liquid metal pumps
holds hope for the future [2].
6. Conclusions
(1) Weibull statistics were found to describe accu-
rately the distributions of fracture strength of TF, TBF
/ Fracture strength of cast AI- 7Si-Mg alloy
and TFBF castings. Weibull modulus values of 37.7
and 20.8 were obtained for the TFBF and T F + T B F
castings respectively. Inclusion of the five lowest data
points gives approximate Weibull modulus values of
10, 20 and 40 for the TF, TBF and TFBF castings
respectively.
(2) Large step-like discontinuities observed in the
fracture surfaces of all castings were found to be asso-
ciated with entrained oxide films produced by mould
surface turbulence.
(3) Failure to use correct mould filling methods
when casting aluminium alloys can result in the prema-
ture failure of castings. Alternatively, high integrity
castings can easily be achieved using TFBF techniques.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial
support of the SERC under research grant number
GR/H1 1655.
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AFS, 100 (1992) 225-234.
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3 W. Weibull, J. Appl. Mech., 18 (1951) 293-297.
4 L. G. Johnson, The Statistical Treatment of Fatigue Experi-
ments, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1964, p. 51.
5 W. G. Thiele, Aluminium (Ger), 38 (1962) 707-715,
780-786.
6 S. Freti, J.-D. Bornand and K. Buxmann, Light Met. Age, 40
(June 1982) 12-16.