Influence of rare earth modification and homogenization on the microstructure and mechanical properties of recycled can 3004 aluminum

Abstract

The microscopic structure of waste can aluminum material was researched by adding Al5TiB refining agent, La-Ce rare earth and mixed rare earth modifiers, and the microstructure and mechanical performance of the modified aluminum material were studied. The experimental results show that the optimal refiner addition amount is 1.1wt%; the material performance can be significantly improved when the content of La-Ce rare earth ranges to a certain degree, but the mixed rare earth barely affects the refinement effect of the aluminum. When being homogenized, the mixed rare earth plays more obvious role in refining the aluminum material than La-Ce rare earth. The optimal plan is modifying the aluminum material with 3wt% mixed rare earth and homogenizing with annealing temperature of 580 °C, annealing time of 12 hours and heating rate of 5 °C/min while refining the material with 1.1wt% Al-5Ti-1B.