Sinter-Melting Composite Process for the Preparation of Al-V-B Refiners
摘要
VB2 particles are the most effective nucleation for grain refinement in Al-V-B refineries, but their synthesis has not been well studied. In this study, Al-2V-B refiner was prepared by a sinter-melting composite process using V2O5 and KBF4 to observe the master alloy’s microscopic morphology and to refine the A356 aluminium alloy. The results indicated that after V2O5 was reduced through the sintering treatment and added to the Al melt, the sintered oxide Al2O3 did not participate in the subsequent reactions due to the non-wetting with the Al melt. Additionally, it avoided second-phase agglomeration by adsorbing oxidation products in the subsequent reactions, which was conducive to the decomposition of the AlB2 phase. The second phase of the master alloy after this process consisted of smaller and uniformly distributed VB2 phases. The addition of this refiner reduced the average grain size of A356 to 126.34 µm; the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (EL) were significantly increased from 175.2 MPa, 75.6 MPa, and 4.72% to 198.2 MPa, 89.1 MPa, and 8.96%, respectively (optimum comprehensive properties). Stability simulations and comparisons of atomic mismatches with α- Al showed that VB2 could better assume the role of heterogeneous nucleation than AlB2.