Effect of Grain Refining on Defect Formation in DC Cast Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy Billet

Abstract

In direct chill (DC) casting, the effect of grain refining on the prominent defects such as hot cracking and macrosegregation remains poorly understood, especially for multi-component commercial aluminum alloys. In this work, DC casting experiments were conducted on a 7075 alloy with and without grain refining at two casting speeds. The grain refiner was introduced either in the launder or in the furnace. The concentration profiles of Zn, Cu and Mg, measured along the billet diameter, showed that the increasing casting speed raises the segregation levels but grain refining does not seem to have a noticeable effect. However, hot cracking tendency is significantly reduced with grain refining and it is observed that crack is terminated with the introduction of grain refiner at a lower casting speed. These experimental results are correlated with microstructural observations such as grain size and morphology, and the occurrence of floating grains.