Effect of Ti-B Grain Refiners on Wear and Corrosion of the A332 Alloy with Sr Modification

Grain refiners play a critical role in changing characteristics and properties of casting aluminum alloys. The Al-Si alloy (A332) is one of the most popular hypoeutectic alloys with a large range of industrial applications. It has a varied phase and morphology; however, it features problems with acicular-shaped eutectic phase, and generally exhibits dendritic cast grain type. To change this situation, the Sr element acts as a modifier of eutectic, which, along with a grain refiner may increase mechanical properties. In this work, two different grain refiners (Al5Ti1B, Al5Ti2B) were applied to the A332 alloy modified with Sr, and analyzed in relation to grain size, hardness, corrosion resistance, and wear behavior. Corrosion tests in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, nanoindentations, and Heyn’s method to analyze grain size and microhardness as optical and SEM images were made to examine the changes caused by grain refiners. A reduction in grain size was achieved, and the influence in size and hardness of the β-Fe phase was verified in the wear and corrosion analyses.