Quality evaluation of cast Al-SiCp composites

This paper presents a methodology for using X-ray radiography and ultrasonic for testing the soundness and distribution of dispersoids and identifying the casting defects in a cast aluminium alloy matrix SiCp composite. The ultrasonic inspection could detect in 6061-SiCp cast composite (i) the presence of low levels of locked in stresses and (ii) existence of local imperfection due to the combined effects of the local solidification condition and the presence of the dispersoids which were not possible through X-ray radiography. This clearly suggests that ultrasonic test can be used as a powerful NDE tool for screening the composite ingots.