Microstructure modeling of magnesium alloys for engineering property prediction

Magnesium alloys have found increasing application in the transportation industry due to their low weight and high strength. However, wider application is hindered by limited ductility. Microstructural features, such as porosity, brittle eutectics, and grain size, can significantly influence the macroscopic response of a component. These features can vary widely throughout a component. Our approach to studying the microstructures influence on bulk properties begins with measuring microstructural features in different regions of a component. These measurements are used to create statistically equivalent, 3D synthetic samples of the microstructure. The synthetic microstructures are meshed using finite elements and used to simulate the response and investigate the influence of specific features. We will demonstrate how the digital microstructure samples are generated, how variations in microstructural features influence the bulk properties, and how this methodology can be used to predict component performance and optimize processing.