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Effect of Al-Ti Master Alloy on the Grain Refinement and Hot Tearing of AZ91 Mg Alloys

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Abstract

The AZ91D magnesium (Mg) alloy is a widely used aluminum (Al)-bearing commercial alloy. However, due to the presence of low-melting temperature phases, the alloy remains highly susceptible to hot tearing. In many Al and Mg alloys, grain refinement was seen to reduce the hot tearing severity, but an effective refiner for Al-bearing Mg alloys has been elusive. In the present work, a novel titanium (Ti)-based master alloy was developed using a spark plasma sintering (SPS) powder metallurgy route. Its effect on hot tearing was quantitatively studied in-situ using a mold with a load cell. In addition to a significant grain refinement, the master alloy eliminated hot tearing in casting conditions where untreated AZ91D Mg alloy readily nucleated hot tears.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from NSERC and the NSERC Discovery Grant. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support from Dr. Norbert Hort and the Magnesium Innovation Centre located at Helmholtz-Zentrum in Geesthacht, Germany.

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  1. School of Engineering, University of British Columbia – Okanagan, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, V1V 1V7, Canada

    T. A. Davis & L. Bichler

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  1. T. A. Davis
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  2. L. Bichler
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Correspondence to L. Bichler.

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This invited article is part of a special topical focus in the Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance on Magnesium. The issue was organized by Prof. C. (Ravi) Ravindran, Dr. Raja Roy, Mr. Payam Emadi, and Mr. Bernoulli Andilab, Ryerson University.

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Davis, T.A., Bichler, L. Effect of Al-Ti Master Alloy on the Grain Refinement and Hot Tearing of AZ91 Mg Alloys. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 32, 2577–2586 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06898-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-022-06898-y

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