The grain refinement performance of B-doped TiC on Zr-containing Al alloys

In this paper, B-doped TiC particles have been successfully synthesized in an Al–5Ti–0.2C–0.27B master alloy, achieved by using Al3BC compound as C and B sources simultaneously. The novel master alloy performs better on grain refinement for Zr-containing 7050 Al alloy than conventional Al–5Ti–1B or Al–5Ti–0.2C. Density functional theory calculations show that Zr element has slighter tendency to segregate on the surface of B-doped TiC in comparison with pure TiC, which is suggested to be the main mechanism for the strong anti Zr-poisoning performance of the Al–5Ti–0.2C–0.27B master alloy. It is regarded that such Al–Ti–C–B master alloy may have promising applications in refining Zr-containing Al alloys.