Effect of Al-3Ti-1B-1.5Ce Refiner on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of A356 Aluminum Alloy

A356 alloyA356 alloy is widely used in rail transit and aerospace fields due to its excellent comprehensive properties. The refiner is called “flavor element” in aluminumAluminum industry, which plays an important role in improving the alloy microstructureMicrostructure and mechanical propertiesMechanical properties. In this paper, as-cast Al-3Ti-1B-1.5Ce master alloyMaster alloy was prepared by fluorideFluoride salt method. The optimum amount and holding timeHolding time were obtained by comparing the effects of Al-3Ti-1B-1.5Ce and Al-3Ti-1B on the microstructureMicrostructure and properties of A356 alloyA356 alloy. Results showed that the average grain size in A356 alloy modified by 0.6% Al-3Ti-1B was 153.73 µm, which was much smaller than that of A356 alloyA356 alloy with an average grain size of 1750 µm. The introduction of Ce element caused a better refining effect of the Al-3Ti-1B-1.5CeAl-3Ti-1B-1.5Ce refiner master alloyMaster alloy. When the addition of Al-3Ti-1B-1.5Ce master alloyMaster alloy was 0.4%, the average grain size, tensile strengthTensile strength and elongationElongation reached 145.96 µm, 213.9 MPa and 11.86%, respectively.