Instability of TiC and TiAl3 compounds in Al-10Mg and Al-5Cu alloys by addition of Al-Ti-C master alloy

The performance of Al-Ti-C master alloy in refining Al-10Mg and Al-5Cu alloys was studied by using electror probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis. The results indicate that there are obvious fading phenomena in both Al-10Mg and Al-5Cu alloys with the addition of Al-5Ti-0.4C refiner which contains TiC and TiAl3 compounds. Mg element has no influence on the stability of TiC and TiAl3, while TiC particles in Al-10Mg alloy react with Al to form Al4C3 particles, resulting in the refinement fading. However, TiC particles are relatively stable in Al-5Cu alloy, while TiAl3 phase reacts with Al2Cu to produce a new phase Ti(Al, Cu)2, which is responsible for the refinement fading in Al-5Cu alloy. These indicate that the refinement fading will not occur only when both the TiC particles and TiAl3 compound of Al-Ti-C refiner are stable in Al alloys.