Effects of Si and Cu contents on grain size of Al–Si–Cu alloys

ABSTRACT

The influence of the silicon and copper contents on the grain size of high-purity Al–Si, Al–Cu, and Al–Si–Cu alloys was investigated. In the Al–Si alloys, a poisoning effect was observed and a poor correlation between the grain size and growth restriction factor was obtained. A possible cause of the poisoning effect in these alloys is the formation of a TiSi₂ monolayer on the particles acting as nucleation sites or another poisoning mechanism not associated with TiSi₂ phase formation. In the Al–Cu alloys, a good correlation between the grain size and growth restriction factor was found, whereas in the Al–Si–Cu alloys, the correlation between these two parameters was inferior.

KEYWORDS:

• Growth restriction factor
• Al–Si–Cu alloys
• grain refinement
• poisoning effect
• high-purity aluminium alloys

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

V. E. Bazhenov http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3214-1935