scholarly journals Grain Refinement Efficiency of a New Oxide-Containing Master Alloy for Aluminium Casting Alloys

2014 ◽  
Vol 794-796 ◽  
pp. 155-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadakke Madam Sreekumar ◽  
Nadendla Hari Babu ◽  
Dmitry G. Eskin ◽  
Zhong Yun Fan

In this study, grain refinement efficiency of a new oxide master alloy based on MgAl2O4was demonstrated on an A357 alloy. The grain size of the reference alloy was reduced by 50-60% with the addition of the master alloy and introduction of ultrasonic cavitation. A higher addition of master alloy was found to be not benificial in further reducing the grain size.

2015 ◽  
Vol 828-829 ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadakke Madam Sreekumar ◽  
N. Hari Babu ◽  
Dmitry G. Eskin ◽  
Z. Fan

In this study, grain refinement efficiency of a new oxide master alloy based on MgAl2O4 was demonstrated in Al alloys. The grain size of the reference alloy was reduced by 50-60% with the addition of the master alloy and introduction of ultrasonic cavitation. While cooling rate has an influence on the grain size reduction, higher levels of addition of master alloy was found to be not effective in further reducing the grain size.


Author(s):  
Jiawei Yang ◽  
Sarina Bao ◽  
Shahid Akhtar ◽  
Yanjun Li

AbstractIn this work, a systematic study on the interactions between aluminum oxide films and TiB2 grain refiner particles and their effect on grain refinement behavior have been conducted. Oxide films were introduced into a commercial purity aluminum melt by adding AA 6061 alloy chips while the grain refiner particles were introduced by adding Al-3T-1B master alloy. Strong sedimentation of TiB2 grain refiner particles was observed in aluminum melt without chip addition during long-time settling. Most of the TiB2 particles were settled and accumulated at the bottom of crucible. In contrast, the sedimentation of TiB2 particles is much less in the melt with the addition of oxide films. A large fraction of TiB2 particles were found to be adhered to the oxide films located at the top part of the crucible, which inhibited the sedimentation of grain refiner particles. TP-1 type tests were also done to study the grain refinement efficiency of Al-3Ti-1B master alloy under different melt cleanliness and settling time. It is found that sedimentation of TiB2 particles greatly reduces the grain refinement efficiency. The introduction of oxide films seems to slightly alleviate the fading effect. This is owing to the strong adherence between the oxide films and TiB2 particles, which leads to a retardation of particle sedimentation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 749 ◽  
pp. 407-413
Author(s):  
Hong Xu ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Ji Ping Ren ◽  
Min Peng ◽  
Shi Yang ◽  
...  

The mechanical properties and corrosion performances of the ZL101 alloy modified by the composite master alloy were investigated. The results showed that the master alloy had not only obvious effect of grain refinement, but also a significant role in refining dendrite grain of ZL101 alloy. The grain size decreased dramatically from 150μm to 62μm when the addition of composite master alloy is up to 0.5%(mass fraction) and the temperature is 720 for 30 minutes,. Its tensile strength and elongation increased by 27% and 42% respectively. The grain refinement of ZL101 alloy decreased its corrosion performance. The morphology of Si changed into globular from needle modified by NaF, instead of AlTiB.


2005 ◽  
Vol 488-489 ◽  
pp. 139-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Cao ◽  
David H. StJohn ◽  
Ma Qian

The effect of manganese on grain refinement of a commercial AZ31 alloy has been investigated using an Al-60%Mn master alloy splatter as an alloying additive at 730 °C in aluminium titanite crucibles. It is shown that grain refinement by manganese is readily achievable in AZ31. Electron microprobe analyses reveal that prior to the addition of extra manganese the majority of the intermetallic particles found in AZ31 are of the Al8Mn5 type. However, after the addition of extra manganese in the range from 0.1% to 0.8%, the predominant group of intermetallic particles changes to the metastable AlMn type. This leads to a hypothesis that the metastable AlMn intermetallic particles are more effective than Al8Mn5 as nucleation sites for magnesium grains. The hypothesis is supported by the observation that a long period of holding at 730 °C leads to an increase in grain size, due probably to the transformation of the metastable AlMn to the stable Al8Mn5. The hypothesis has also been used to understand the mechanism of grain refinement by superheating.


Author(s):  
Jiawei Yang ◽  
Yijiang Xu ◽  
Sarina Bao ◽  
Shahid Akhtar ◽  
Ulf Tundal ◽  
...  

AbstractIt is well known that the filtration efficiency of ceramic foam filters (CFF) on aluminum melt can be significantly reduced by the addition of grain refiner particles under a high inclusion load. Also, it is usually considered that the filtration process has little impact on grain refinement efficiency. In this work, the influence of inclusions and filtration on the grain refinement effect of AA 6060 alloy has been studied. This was done through TP-1 type solidification experiments where the aluminum melt prior to and after the filter during a pilot-scale filtration test was investigated. In the experiments, 80 PPi CFFs were used to filtrate aluminum melt with an ultra-high inclusion load and two addition levels of Al–3Ti–1B master alloys. It is found that both inclusions and filtration significantly reduce the grain refinement efficiency of the grain refiner master alloys. A detailed characterization of the used filters shows that the reduction of grain refinement efficiency is due to the strong adherence of TiB2 particles to the oxide films, which are blocked by the CFF during filtration. A grain size prediction model based on deterministic nucleation mechanisms and dendritic growth kinetics has been applied to calculate the solidification grain size and estimate the loss of effective grain refiner particles during filtration. It is shown that due to the strong adherence between TiB2 particles and oxide films in the melt, the high addition level of aluminum chips also has an influence on reducing the grain refinement efficiency of aluminum melt without filtration. The results of this study extended our understanding of the behavior and performance of inoculant particles in CFF and their interactions with the inclusions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 765 ◽  
pp. 311-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro Bolzoni ◽  
Magdalena Nowak ◽  
N. Hari Babu

The grain refinement practice using Ti based chemical additions is well established for wrought Al alloys, especially in the last few decades. In the case of Al-Si casting alloys the practice of adding grain refiners and the impact on castability is not well established in industries. The main reason is the chemical instability of conventionally known Ti based grain refiner which reacts with silicon forming intermetallic phases. Recently, researchers at Brunel University have identified a novel chemical composition that can refine the grain structure of Al-Si alloys in an effective way. Over the last year, this novel grain refiner in the form of master alloy was developed and tested in various Al-Si cast alloys that are commonly used in industry. Significant grain refinement is obtained when the master alloy is added to the liquid metal prior to casting. Moreover, the grain size of the Al-Si cast alloys is observed to be less sensitive to cooling rate when the master alloy is added. In this work, the influence of addition of the master alloy on microstructural evolution of various Al-Si alloys cast under various cooling rates is presented.


2014 ◽  
Vol 703 ◽  
pp. 56-59
Author(s):  
Xiao Ying Liu ◽  
Hao Ran Geng ◽  
Min Zuo ◽  
Peng Fei Ji

This article reports the effect of MnCO3addition on the grain refinement efficiency of AZ91 magnesium alloy. The results indicate that the addition of MnCO3has excellent grain refining efficiency for AZ91 alloy, which is mainly attributed to the Al4C3particles formed in the melt, besides Mn is indispensable to grain refinement in Al-bearing magnesium alloys. There is an optimal addition amount of 0.6% at 740 °C and the grain size is reduced from 245 to 91 μm. At the same time, the corrosion resistance performance of MnCO3-added AZ91is improved.


2017 ◽  
Vol 898 ◽  
pp. 1231-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Cheng Wang ◽  
Ji Lin Li ◽  
Chun Lei Gan ◽  
Kai Hong Zheng

The Al-5Ti-1B, Al-10Ti, Al-4B master alloys and TiB2 powder were applied to refine the pure aluminum, respectively. The effects of the TiAl3 phase, TiB2 particle, and AlB2 phase on the grain size of pure aluminum were compared. The grain refinement mechanism of the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner was studied. The results showed that the TiAl3 phase was an effective heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain. But the TiAl3 phase in the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner was not the heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain due to its re-melting in the Al melt. The separate TiB2 particle or AlB2 phase was not the heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain. However, the TiB2 coated by the TiAl3 phase can be the effective heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain. The grain refinement mechanism of the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner can be summarized as follows: when the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner is added into the Al melt, the TiAl3 phases are re-melted to release the Ti atoms, while the TiB2 particles are remaining in the Al melt. During the solidification of the Al melt, the Ti atoms are segregating on the surface of TiB2 particles to form the TiAl3 phases. The TiB2 particles coated by the TiAl3 phases then reacts with the Al melt to generate α-Al crystal nucleus.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1292-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Yao ◽  
S.D. McDonald ◽  
A.K. Dahle ◽  
C.J. Davidson ◽  
D.H. StJohn

Following the discussion of modeling grain refinement in Part I, [X. Yao, et al., J. Mater. Res.23(5), 1282, the effect of Al–Ti–B master alloy additions on grain formation in commercial-purity (CP) aluminum was investigated. The characteristics of the addition particles as applicable to the model are presented. The effect of adding TiB2 particles, the introduction of extra particles by reactions in the melt, and the effect of adding extra solute Ti are all modeled. The distribution of the potential particles and its effect on grain formation was also modeled to establish the relationship between the grain size and microstructure morphology and the additive characteristics. The calculated results are comparable with experimental data. Accordingly, possible mechanisms of grain refinement with Al–Ti–B refiners were proposed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document