Grain Refiner Settling and Its Effect on the Melt Quality of Aluminum Casting Alloys.

Grain refiner particles, which are intended to induce the formation of fine equiaxed grain structure during the solidification of aluminum alloys, are prone to settling during the holding of the liquid metal, which phenomenon can affect not only the grain size but the spatial distribution of the double oxide films in the melt. In this study, the settling of AlTi inoculant particles, as well as its effects on melt quality and grain refinement, were studied. During the experiments, the Ti-concentration of a liquid Al-Si-Mg-Cu alloy was increased to 0.