Review of grain refinement methods for as-cast microstructure of magnesium alloy

As the lightest structural metal, Mg and Mg-based alloys have great potential applications in the aerospace, automotive and nuclear industries. However, such applications have been limited by low ductility and strength. Theoretically, small grain sized structure can synchronously improve its ductility and strength. Yet,universally reliable grain refinement techniques for the magnesium alloys are still under investigation and some are in strong debating. This paper presents a brief review of development of grain refinement methods for magnesium alloys, which would contribute to a better understanding of the factors controlling grain refinement and provide an outlook of future research in this field.     

Effect of limestone ores on grain refinement of as-cast commercial AZ31 magnesium alloys

The grain refinement of the as-cast AZ31 alloys by limestone particles was investigated by grain refining tests and microstructure observations. The results show that the limestone particles have a good grain refining potency, which is deeply related to the addition level of limestone and melting temperature. The optimal addition level and melting temperature are 2.0% (mass fraction) and 720 °C, respectively. The average grain size of AZ31 alloy is reduced from (556±60) to (236±22) μm. The sound grain refining by raw limestone particles has a good anti-fading capacity without any significant grain coarsening in a 40 min holding time. The concerned grain refining mechanism should be attributed to the inoculated Al-C and Al-C/Al-Mn-(Fe) nuclei. Ultrasonic treatment can enhance the grain refining efficiency of limestone particles through cavitation-enhanced nucleation mechanism.     

Mg对Al-Ti-B、Al-Ti-C中间合金细化铝晶粒效果的影响

试验研究了Mg对Al-5Ti-1B和Al-5Ti-0.2C两种中间合金细化铝晶粒效果的影响,分析了Mg影响两种中间合金细化铝晶粒行为的机制。结果表明,在w(Mg)=1%～7%的范围内,镁含量的增加,对两种中间合金细化铝晶粒的促进作用不显著,但对晶粒形貌有显著的影响;晶粒形貌取决于所用中间合金的种类和Mg添加量大小,相同镁含量时,用Al-5Ti-1B细化比用Al-5Ti-0.2C细化后晶粒的树枝化程度小;细化所用的中间合金相同时,随着镁含量的增加,细化晶粒的树枝化程度增大。     

电磁振荡下半连铸Al合金凝固组织的细化机制

在半连铸7075铝合金过程中, 通过同时施加稳恒磁场和交变磁场的方法, 使凝固熔体产生受迫振荡, 研究了电磁振荡的强度和频率对晶粒细化的影响规律. 对电磁振荡作用下, 合金凝固组织的细化机理进行了探讨. 结果表明 电磁振荡法获得的晶粒尺寸要较CREM法所获得的小, 且随着电磁振荡强度增加及频率降低, 铸锭整体组织变得更加细小和均匀.     

电磁振荡强度对半连铸7075铝合金微观组织的影响

在 70 75铝合金半连铸过程中 ,通过同时施加一个稳恒磁场和一个交变磁场 ,使金属熔体产生受迫振荡的方法。实验研究了电磁振荡强度对晶粒细化的影响规律。结果表明 :电磁振荡法获得的铝合金晶粒尺寸较CREM法的小 ,且随着电磁振荡强度的增加 ,铸锭微观组织变得更加细小和均匀。对在电磁振荡作用下 ,合金凝固组织的细化机理进行了探讨。     

Correlation of recalescence with grain refinement of magnesium alloys

The grain refinement of Mg-Al based alloys with carbon inoculation was investigated by a computer-aided cooling curve analysis(CA-CCA) system.The results show that carbon inoculation decreases the main parameters of the recalescence regime during the initial stage of solidification.These parameters include the recalescence undercooling(Δθ_(rec)),duration of recalescence (t_(rec)),and liquid peak parameter(LPP) which is firstly introduced into magnesium alloys.The resultant grain size decreases with incre...     

Microstructure refinement of AZ31 alloy solidified with pulsed magnetic field

The effects of a pulsed magnetic field on the solidified microstructure of an AZ31 magnesium alloy were investigated. The experimental results show that the remarkable microstructural refinement is achieved when the pulsed magnetic field is applied to the solidification of the AZ31 alloy. The average grain size of the as-cast microstructure of the AZ31 alloy is refined to 107 μm. By quenching the AZ31 alloy, the different primary α-Mg microstructures are preserved during the course of solidification. The microstructure evolution reveals that the primary α-Mg generates and grows in globular shape with pulsed magnetic field, contrast with the dendritic shape without pulsed magnetic field. The pulsed magnetic field causes melt convection during solidification, which makes the temperature of the whole melt homogenized, and produces an undercooling zone in front of the liquid/solid interface, which makes the nucleation rate increased and big dendrites prohibited. In addition, the Joule heat effect induced in the melt also strengthens the grain refinement effect and spheroidization of dendrite arms.     

低钛铝合金的电解生产与晶粒细化

在电解低钛铝合金的工业化生产试验中，研究和对比了电解加钛和熔配加钛低钛铝合金的晶粒细化效果及其衰退行为。结果发现：电解质中添加少量TiO2对电解槽铝产量和电流效率影响较小，二者分别维持在1200kg和92％左右，钛的吸收率在95％以上所生产的合金钛含量稳定，晶粒细化效果明显，晶粒尺寸随钛含量的变化趋势与熔配加钛合金相同；钛含量在0．1％～0．2％范围内时，电解加Ti合金晶粒细化效果的抗退化能力比熔配加Ti合金的强。     

Different grain refinement mechanisms of minor zirconium and cerium in magnesium alloys

Zirconium and rare earth element cerium were added in magnesium and magnesium alloys to study their different grain refinement mechanisms. The results show that zirconium has an obvious refinement effect on the cast grain of magnesium and its alloys without the alloy element Al because the crystal structure of zirconium is the same as magnesium matrix, and the lattice parameters are close to magnesium. Zirconium can decrease the grain size of magnesium from 150 to 20 pm. The rare earth cerium also has a grain refinement effect on Mg and Mg-Al alloy. The cerium atoms tend to remain in the liquid rather than solidify with the solvent atoms magnesium at the solid-liquid interface. The liquid constitutional undercooling can provide a heterogeneous crystal nucleation. The grain is refined from 200 μm to 40-80 μm. These two elements have different grain refinement mechalfism on Mg alloy. The mechanism of zirconium is that it acts as the nuclei of α-Mg. But the mechanism of cerium is that it increases the liquid constitutional undercooling that can provide a heterogeneous crystal nucleation for the alloy.     

Microstructure refinement of AZ91D alloy solidified with pulsed magnetic field

The effects of pulsed magnetic field on the solidified microstructure of an AZ91D magnesium alloy were investigated. The experimental results show that the remarkable microstructural refinement is achieved when the pulsed magnetic field is applied in the solidification of AZ91D alloy. The average grain size of the as-cast microstructure of AZ91D alloy is refined to 104 μm. Besides the grain refinement, the morphology of the primary α-Mg is changed from dendritic to rosette, then to globular shape with changing the parameters of the pulsed magnetic field. The pulsed magnetic field causes melt convection during solidification, which makes the temperature of the whole melt homogenized, and produces an undercooling zone in front of the liquid/solid interface by the magnetic pressure, which makes the nucleation rate increased and big dendrites prohibited. In addition, primary α-Mg dendrites break into fine crystals, resulting in a refined solidification structure of the AZ91D alloy. The Joule heat effect induced in the melt also strengthens the grain refinement effect and spheroidization of dendrite arms.     

Effects of Al-10Sr master alloys on grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy

The effects of Al-10Sr master alloys on grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy were investigated, and the refinement efficiency of different Al-10Sr master alloys （commercial, solubilized, rolled and remelted＋rapidly cooled） was compared and analyzed. The results indicate that the morphology and size of Al4Sr phases in the microstructures of different Al-10Sr master alloys, are of great difference. For the commercial Al-10Sr master alloy, the Al4Sr phases evolve from coarse block shape to relatively fine block shape after being dissolved at 500 ℃ for 4 h and followed by water quenching; but after being rolled at 300 ℃ for 50% reduction or remelted and followed by rapid cooling, the Al4Sr phases mainly exhibit fine granule and fibre shapes. In addition, the different Al-10Sr master alloys can effectively reduce the grain size of AZ31 magnesium alloy, but their refinement efficiency is different. The refinement efficiency of the Al-10Sr master alloy obtained by remelting and rapid cooling is the best, then the rolled, solubilized and commercial Al-10Sr master alloys are in turn. The difference of refinement efficiency for different Al-10Sr master alloys may be related to the dissolution rates of Al4Sr phases with different morphologies and sizes in the melt of AZ31 magnesium alloy.     

Effects of grain refinement on mechanical properties and microstructures of AZ31 alloy

Cerium was added in AZ31 alloy with the contents of 0.4%,0.8%and 1.2%respectively to produce experimental alloys. The grain refinement of Ce in the as-cast and rolled AZ31 alloy were studied by using Polyvar-MET optical microscope with a VSM2000 quantitative analysis system,KYKY2000 SEM and Tecnai G~2 20 TEM.And the mechanical properties of AZ31+Ce alloy were tested on a CSS-44100 testing system with computerized data acquisition.The results show that the cerium has a good grain refinement effect on the ...     

电磁振荡法半连铸7075合金的微观组织及溶质元素分布

研究了电磁振荡对7075铝合金半连续铸锭微观组织及溶质元素宏观和微观分布的作用规律。研究结果表明：存在一个最佳电磁场频率范围10～30Hz，在此范围内，随着交变磁场感应线圈电流增大，铸锭中近球形组织增多，蔷薇形组织减少，晶粒尺寸变得更加细小和均匀；同时，溶质元素晶内含量显著增加，宏观偏析现象在很大程度上得到了抑制和消除；此外，电磁振荡使得液穴内部结晶核心增加，温度场和含量场更趋均匀，初凝壳高度和液穴深度降低，溶质元素分配系数增大和结晶区间变小，对枝晶生长的抑制作用加强，从而促进了电磁振荡法半连续铸锭中非枝晶组织的形成和溶质元素的强制固溶，并且抑制了宏观偏析。     

轻合金中电磁搅拌技术的研究与应用现状

介绍了电磁工艺的基础理论和电磁搅拌技术的优点及其发展概况。总结了国内外电磁搅拌技术在轻合金中的研究与应用情况。指出了今后电磁搅拌技术的发展趋势。     

Mg-5Al-1Sr-2Ca-xY合金组织及力学性能

制备了不同Y含量的Mg-5Al-1Sr-2Ca-xY(x=0,1,2,5)合金试样,采用光学显微镜(OM)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)、材料试验机等观察测试合金的微观组织和力学性能。结果表明,未添加Y时,合金晶粒大小不均匀,且多呈柱状,晶内有较多的点状化合物;Y含量1%时,晶粒细化、球化且大小较均匀;Y含量2%时,晶粒趋于柱状;Y含量5%时,晶粒形状不规则、大小极不均匀。随Y含量的增加,室温和高温力学性能呈先升后降趋势,最高点为Y含量1%,其室温和高温抗拉强度分别较无Y合金提高了约33.8%和25.4%。     

Mn对Al-Ti-B、Al-Ti-C中间合金细化铝晶粒效果的影响

试验研究了Mn元素对Al-5Ti-1B和Al-5Ti-0.2C两种铝用中间合金晶粒细化效果的影响,分析了Mn元素影响两种中间合金晶粒细化效果的机制。结果表明,总体来讲,Mn对Al-5Ti-1B和Al-5Ti-0.2C的晶粒细化效果有不同程度的破坏作用。微量Mn元素不会影响铝熔体中形核基底的活性,Mn元素加入铝熔体后的生长限制因子很小,不能有效阻止小尺寸晶粒的长大和相互融合,添加Mn元素所导致的熔体过热对晶粒细化的破坏作用占主导地位,最终导致中间合金的晶粒细化效果被削弱。     

A new development of Al-Ti-C grain refining master alloys

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7475铝合金ECAP的晶粒细化极限

将等径弯曲通道变形应用于7475铝合金,等效真应变达12.对7475铝合金在不同温度下ECAP变形后显微组织特征和晶粒细化极限进行了研究.结果表明:变形温度从273 K到773 K,7475铝合金的晶粒细化极限为0.29～1.90 pm,且极限晶粒尺寸的倒数与变形温度的倒数成正比关系.在较高温度下,组织中产生大量的沉淀相粒子能有效钉扎晶界,阻碍晶粒长大,使合金具有较好的组织热稳定性.     

Effect of A1P master alloy on grain refinement of primary silicon in eutectic Al-Si alloys

To obtain the finer primary silicon crystals, the proprietary Al-P master alloy was adopted to modify the eutectic Al-Si alloys and the most suitable modification process was made in the experiments. The SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) analysis indicate that the Al-P modifier has more advantages over Cu-P and Fe-P modifier in easily addition, no elemental alteration and less undercooling of primary silicon's solidification, which suggests the Al-P master alloy is an effective modifier of eutectic Al-Si alloys.     

Microstructure refinement of Sn-Sb Peritectic alloy by power ultrasonic

Sn-Sb peritectic alloy was treated with 400 W, 600 W and 800 W ultrasonic, respectively, to study the effect of power ultrasonic on solidification microstructure. Results show that power ultrasonic can refine α phase and β phase of the alloy, as well as eliminate gravitational segregation. Moreover, 600 W ultrasonic demonstrated the best refining effect, not only homogenous and fine solidification microstructure can be obtained, the cubical β phase crystals can also be spheroidized.