Effect of Al-Ti-B Refiner on Microstructure and Properties of A356 Alloy by Continuous Rheo-Extrusion

In this paper, an Al-5Ti-1BAl-5Ti-1B grain refinerGrain refiner for continuous rheo-extrusionContinuous rheo-extrusion forming and its effect on the microstructureMicrostructure and properties of A356 alloyA356 alloy is investigated. Phase and microstructureMicrostructure of Al-5Ti-1BAl-5Ti-1B were examined by XRD, SEMScanning electron microscopy (SEM), and EDS. Furthermore, the effect of Al-5Ti-1BAl-5Ti-1B on the microstructureMicrostructure and properties of the A356 alloyA356 alloy was studied. Results showed that the continuous rheo-extrusionContinuous rheo-extrusion can break the TiAl3 phase in Al-5Ti-1BAl-5Ti-1B alloy and promote the TiB2 particle to distribute uniformly. When the content of Al-5Ti-1BAl-5Ti-1B is 0.8 wt%, the refining effect was best. The grain size can reach 170 μm and A356 alloyA356 alloy obtained the optimum mechanical propertiesMechanical properties. The tensile strengthTensile strength, yield strength, and elongationElongation were 290 MPa, 237 MPa, and 8.5%, respectively.