In Situ Investigation of Si-Poisoning Effect in Al-Cu-Si Alloys Inoculated by Al-5Ti-1B

In situ synchrotron X-radiography was carried out on Al-13Cu and Al-13Cu-7Si alloys with and without addition of Al-5Ti-1B master alloy. The effects of Si content on grain growth and the solute-suppressed nucleation zone (SSNZ) were quantitatively studied. The average grain size can be refined to 164 μm of Al-13Cu alloy inoculated by Al-5Ti-1B. After addition of 7% Si content, a large number of TiB₂ sites in the melt lost the inoculating ability due to “Si poisoning.” The radius of the dendrite tip curvature of Al-13Cu is more than two times as large as that of Al-13Cu-7Si. The sharper tip is able to disperse the solute more effectively and thus grains can grow more rapidly. This causes that the dendrite arm growth rate with addition of 7% Si solute is about 2.6 times that of no Si addition. In addition, the solute enrichment in the SSNZ of Al-13Cu is faster, and the area change of SSNZ is slower than that of Al-13Cu-7Si. Thus more nucleation sites in the SSNZ cannot be activated with addition of Si. This study will shed light on the understanding of Si poisoning in casting Al-Cu-Si alloys.