A New Al-Zr-Ti Master Alloy for Ultrasonic Grain Refinement of Wrought and Foundry Aluminum Alloys

A new grain refiner master alloy based on the Al-Zr-Ti system was prepared by salt-assisted synthesis. Of the Al3Zr particles in the master alloy, 90% were ranged between 1 mu m and 13 mu m. An 80% reduction in the grain size was observed with the addition of an equivalent 0.2 wt.% Zr master alloy combined with ultrasonic treatment in an Al alloy. The new master alloy demonstrated a 30% improvement in grain refinement efficiency as compared to the master alloy prepared from conventional binary master alloys.