Aluminium grain refinement by Ti(C, N) nanoparticles additions: principles, advantages and drawbacks

Abstract

Ti(C, N) is a ceramic particle with high melting point, high hardness, high thermal and chemical stability. And incorporated Ti(C, N) particles is demonstrated to refine the grain and improve the mechanical properties of aluminium and its alloys. In this article, effects of the addition amount of Ti(C, N) particles on grain refinement and mechanical properties of aluminium alloy are reviewed, and the mechanisms of aluminium alloy refined by Ti(C, N) are described. In addition, due to the poor wettability of Ti(C, N) nanoparticles with aluminium alloy melt and the large specific surface area of Ti(C, N) nanoparticles, the Ti(C, N) nanoparticles are prone to aggregate in molten aluminium, which severely limits the application of Ti(C, N) in aluminium alloy. And effective approaches to improving the wettability of Ti(C, N) nanoparticles refine aluminium alloys are provided.