Abstract
Al13Fe4, Al6Fe and AlmFe are common intermetallics in commercial AA1XXX series Al alloys. Grain-refining additions (based on either Al-Ti-B or Al-Ti-C) are usually added to such alloys during solidification processing to aid the grain structure development. They also influence the favoured intermetallic and, hence, can affect the materials’ properties. This work simulates commercial casting practices in an attempt to determine the mechanisms by which one intermetallic phase is favoured over another by the introduction of grain-refining additions. Directional solidification experiments on Al-0.3wt.%Fe-0.15wt.%Si with and without grain refiner are conducted using Bridgman apparatus. The type, amount and effectiveness of the grain-refining additions are altered and the resulting intermetallic phase selection followed. The materials are characterised using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. AlmFe is seen to form when Al-Ti-B grain-refiner is introduced but only when the refinement is successful; reducing the effectiveness of the refiner led to Al6Fe forming under all conditions. Al-Ti-C refiners are seen to promote AlmFe at lower solidification velocities than when Al-Ti-B was used even though the grain structure was not as refined. These trends can be explained within existing eutectic theory, by considering growth undercooling.
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© 2016 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
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Meredith, M.W., Greer, A.L., Evans, P.V., Hamerton, R.G. (2016). The Generation of AlmFe in Dilute Aluminium Alloys with Different Grain Refining Additions. In: Grandfield, J.F., Eskin, D.G. (eds) Essential Readings in Light Metals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48228-6_59
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48228-6_59
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48576-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48228-6
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