The influence of gadolinium on Al–Ti–C master alloy and its refining effect on AZ31 magnesium alloy

Abstract

Abstract Grain refinement has a significant influence on the improvement of mechanical properties of magnesium alloys. In this study, a series of Al–Ti–C-xGd (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) master alloys as grain refiners were prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. The synthesis mechanism of the Al–Ti–C-xGd master alloy was analyzed. The effects of Al–Ti–C-xGd master alloys on the grain refinement and mechanical properties of AZ31 (Mg-3Al-1Zn-0.4Mn) magnesium alloys were investigated. The results show that the microstructure of the Al–Ti–C-xGd alloy contains α-Al, TiAl3, TiC and the core–shell structure TiAl3/Ti2Al20Gd. The refining effect of the prepared Al–Ti–C–Gd master alloy is obviously better than that of Al–Ti–C master alloy. The grain size of AZ31 magnesium alloy was reduced from 323 μm to 72 μm when adding 1 wt.% Al–Ti–C-2Gd master alloy. In the same condition, the ultimate tensile strength and elongation of as-cast alloy were increased from 130 MPa, 7.9% to 207 MPa, 16.6% respectively.