A. A. Filatov, A. V. Suzdaltsev, Yu. P. Zaikov.
ABSTRACT
In the present study, the possibility of applying an electrolytic master alloy was studied in order to reduce the grain size and improve the properties of aluminum alloys. The experiments were carried with Al–Si–Fe alloy, by the way of illustration, to which a different amount of Al–Zr master alloy with a content of 10 wt % zirconium was added at 900°C. The effect of the zirconium content in aluminum alloy and the rate of its cooling on structure and properties was revealed. It was found that the addition of zirconium to the alloy refines the grain by 4–5 times without changing the shape and structure. The measurement of hardness of the obtained alloys revealed that when zirconium was added to high-purity aluminum the hardness increased by 1.5 times at a zirconium content of 0.4 wt % and rised with an increase in zirconium content. Moreover, the zirconium addition to the AK6 alloy leads to a slight increase in hardness, according to Brinell, which is associated with a more pronounced effect of other alloying elements and the absence of an additive effect of the addition of zirconium on hardness in their presence. The absence of intermetallic compounds in the obtained AK6 alloy samples of the AK6 alloy at different rates of crystallization modified with the Al–Zr master alloy, containing intermetallic inclusions up to 50 μm in size, indicated that the initial Al–Zr master alloy can be poured into ingots and cooled under any conditions, without the operation remelting in a mixer and other types of processing.
KEY WORDS:
aluminum, zirconium, master alloy, electrodeposition, oxide-fluoride melt
DOI: 10.31857/S0235010621030051