Effect of vanadium carbide on commercial pure aluminum

The effect of vanadium carbide (VC) on the grain size of commercial pure aluminum was experimentally investigated by varying the content of VC, the holding time, and casting temperature. The refining efficiencies of VC and Al5Ti1B were also compared. The refined samples of commercial pure aluminum were examined using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results suggest that VC is a good refiner of commercial pure aluminum. The addition of only 0.3wt% VC can decrease the grain size of aluminum to 102 μm, whereas the casting temperature and holding time have little effect on the grain size. The refining efficiency of VC is better than that of Al5Ti1B. The VC particles in molten aluminum act as nuclei and the grain refinement of aluminum alloys by VC particles is achieved via heterogeneous nucleation.