The influence of Sr addition on pore formation in directionally solidified Al-12.3wt.% alloy was investigated using X-ray detection, optical microscope, and SEM-EDX. Results indicate that addition of Sr significantly increases the number density and volume fraction of porosity. The considerable rise in volume fraction of porosity is attributed to the remarkable increase in the numbers of pores formed. It is found that Sr solute in liquid Al-Si alloy can diffuse into the oxide inclusions to form loose oxide aggregations which have more activity as the nucleation sites for porosity. Adding more Sr considerably increases the numbers of active nucleation sites. There is an obvious fluctuation of pore number density during steady state solidification, which is believed to be related to a fluctuation of local hydrogen supersaturation induced by the competition of pore nucleation and growth for hydrogen solute supplement.
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