Effect of Al–TiB master alloy addition on microstructure, wear and compressive deformation behaviour of aluminum alloys

Aluminum-10% TiB master alloy was added in various proportions in 7178 Al alloy in order to examine the effect of TiB on grain refinement, wear and compressive deformation of the later one. Microstructural characterization reveals that TiB particles act as grain refiners for primary base alloy and result in globular dendrites. It was observed that the wear resistance and strength of the alloy decreased when the master alloy addition increased beyond 20%, even though the dendrites become much finer and almost spherical in nature.