Preparation of Al-Ti-B-C Master Alloy and its Grain Refinement Effect for Pure Al

Abstract

In this paper, we successfully produced Al-Ti-B-C master alloys through adding mixtures of Ti and B4C powders into Al melt. XRD and SEM examinations suggest that only fine TiB2 and TiC particles are formed in the matrix of Al-Ti-B-C master alloy when the Ti/B4C molar ratio is 3/1, while an additional TiAl3 phase is present when the Ti/B4C molar ratio exceeds 3/1. The produced Al-Ti-B-C master alloys exhibited high grain refinement effect for pure Al. It was found that the presence of TiAl3 phase in the matrix of Al-Ti-B-C master alloy enhanced the grain refinement efficiency and the mechanism was discussed.