Poisoning-free effect of calcium on grain refinement of Mg-3%Al alloy containing trace Fe by carbon inoculation

Mg-3%Al alloy was modified by combining Ca addition with carbon inoculation. The effects of Fe addition and addition sequence on the grain refinement were investigated. A higher grain refining efficiency could be obtained for the Mg-Al alloy modified by combining Ca addition with carbon inoculation. Fe addition and addition sequence had no obvious effect on the grain refinement. Ca addition could effectively avoid grain-coarsening resulting from Fe in the carbon-inoculated Mg-Al alloy. The Al-C-O particles, actually being Al4C3, should act as potent substrates for a-Mg grains in the sample treated by combining Ca addition with carbon inoculation. However, the duplex-phase particles of AI4C3 coated on Al-Fe or Al-C-Fe should be the potent substrates for a-Mg grains if Fe existed in the Mg-Al melt. Ca addition can contribute to the formation of the particles of Al4C3 coated on Al-Fe or Al-C-Fe, regardless of the Fe addition sequence. The poisoning effect of Fe was effectively inhibited in the carbon-inoculated of Mg-Al alloy due to Ca addition, namely, Ca has a poisoning-free effect.

Discussion on grain refining mechanism of AM30 alloy inoculated by MgCO_(3)

AM30 was inoculated by MgCO_(3) powder with different holding time.The influence of MgO decomposed by MgCO_(3)on the grain refinement effect was mainly discussed in the present study.Three sets of comparative samples were prepared.They were AM30 alloy inoculated by MgO and pure Mg inoculated by MgO and MgCO_(3).The possible nucleating particles were observed and analyzed by EPMA and SEM.AM30 alloy could be effectively refined by either MgCO_(3)or MgO inoculation.Grain refining efficiency and fading effect of MgO inoculation were better than those of MgCO_(3) inoculation.However,pure Mg could not be refined by these two inoculants.Al is an indispensable element to determine the grain refinement of Mg alloys inoculated by either MgCO_(3)or MgO.MgO should not be the effective substrates forα-Mg phase.A novel grain refining mechanism of MgCO_(3) inoculation on AM30 alloy was proposed by combining experimental results with theoretical calculation,i.e.,MgAl_(2)O_(4) should be the potent nuclei ofα-Mg grain for the AM30 alloy in addition to Al_(4)C_(3).

Investigation of the Heterogeneous Nucleation on Fractal Surfaces

Classical theory of heterogeneous nucleation has been developed with an implied hypothesis of smooth substrate surfaces; however, morphologies of any real substrate surfaces are generally complicated and demonstrate fractal characteristics. In this paper, the wettability between the embryo and the fractal substrate surface was discussed, and heterogeneous nucleation behaviors were theoretically analyzed. The result shows that the roughness factor of a fractal surface varies with the scale of the embryo. As a result, the fractal character of the substrate surface has important effects on heterogeneous nucleation behaviors. It has been shown that the energy barrier for heterogeneous nucleation of a non-wetting phase on a fractal rough surface increases with increasing fractal dimensions, and both the critical nucleus radius and the nucleation energy barrier decrease with increasing fractal dimensions for heterogeneous nucleation of a wetting phase on the fractal rough surface. For a non-wetting system, the critical nucleus radius shows a slight shift with changes of the intrinsic wetting angle, but for a wetting system, the critical nucleus radius shows an obvious change with decreasing intrinsic wetting angle, thus imposes a stronger effect on the heterogeneous nucleation behaviors.

Towards relieving center segregation in twin-roll cast Al-Mg-Si-Cu strips by controlling the thermal-mechanical process

Serious center segregation greatly limits the application of twin-roll casting(TRC)technology for produc-ing 6xxx alloy strips.Herein,Al-0.9Mg-0.6Si-0.2Cu-0.1Fe(wt.%,6061)strips with different thicknesses were fabricated by TRC,and we found that the center segregation was well relieved with the thick-ness increased from 3 mm to 4 mm.To reveal the mechanisms of mitigation of center segregation in the 4 mm strip,various techniques including solidification simulation,crystallographic calculation,elec-tron backscatter diffraction(EBSD),and electron probe micro-analyzer(EPMA)were utilized.The re-sults disclosed that the Fe-containing phase in the 3 mm strip wasπ-AlFeMgSi,while the counterpart in the 4 mm strip wasα-AlFeSi.Theα-AlFeSi could serve as nucleation substrates for Mg_(2)Si and Q-AlCuMgSi phases,thus promoting the uniform distribution of elements and preventing the accumulation of phases in the center region.Three matching planes between theα-AlFeSi and Q/Mg_(2)Si were exam-ined as:(1120)_(α-AlFeSi)//(0001)_(Q),(0001)_(α-AlFeSi)//(110)_(Mg2Si),and(1120)_(α-AlFeSi)//(110)_(Mg2Si).Meanwhile,the smaller roll separating force during the TRC process in the 4 mm strip could weaken the force-induced liquid flow behavior in the semi-solid region,which is the other reason for the alleviation of center seg-regation.Owing to the elimination of the center segregation,a more excellent fracture elongation was achieved in the as-homogenized 4 mm strip(∼29%)compared with the counterpart of the 3 mm strip(∼20%).This work may provide a strategy to eliminate the center segregation,thus further promoting the application of TRC process and producing high-performance Al alloy strips efficiently.

Effect of Sr on Grain Refinement of Mg–3%Al Alloy Containing Trace Fe by Carbon-Inoculation

Magnesium（Mg）-3% aluminum（Al）（in weight） alloy was modified by carbon（C） inoculation combining with strontium（Sr）.The effects of trace 0.1% iron（Fe） addition and operating sequence of carboninoculation and Fe addition on the grain size of Mg-3%Al alloy were studied.The results reveal that the Sr addition could effectively suppress grain-coarsening resulted from the inclusion of Fe in the carboninoculated Mg-Al alloy.Sr addition could contribute to the formation of the duplex-phase particles that Al-C-rich phases coated on Al-Fe or Al-C-Fe-rich phases,regardless of the Fe addition sequence.These duplex-phase particles should be the potent substrates for α-Mg grains.Consequently,Sr addition could effectively subsidize the inhibiting effect of Fe on grain refinement and the active nuclei were maintained.In other words,Sr plays a counter role in the poisoning effect of Fe on the microstructure of Mg-3%Al alloy.