The impact of AL-TI-B grain-refiners from different manufacturers on wrought al-alloy

Abstract

To investigate the impact of various Al-Ti-B grain-refiners on solidification and grain-refining performance, a wrought aluminium alloy AA6182 was used. Three different grain-refiners from different manufacturers were used to establish the efficiency, i.e. contact time before casting, on the primary solidification and grain formation size. The primary solidification of α-Al grains at inoculation was observed by using thermal analysis (TA). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used in order to analyze the quality of various grain-refiners. The size of the primary grains was analyzed using optical microscopy (OM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to estimate the size and distribution of Al3Ti and TiB2 particles in various grain-refiners and to establish the best efficiency of the investigated grain-refiners. Within 1-4 min of inoculation the smallest fine equiaxed grains were achieved when either one of the investigated grain-refiners was added. It was established, that grain-refiner A contains higher content of impurities which do not melt in the experimental temperature range made by DSC method. The most pure grain-refiner turned out to be grain-refiner B, in which the most optimal number of TiB2 particles and particle size distribution was found.