Effect of Cerium-rich Mixtures of Rare Earth on Microstructure of Aluminum Alloys
The effect of cerium-rich rare earth mixture addition on the microstructure of Grain-refining Aluminum Ingots(GRAI),A356 and 3003 aluminum alloys produced with GRAI has been studied by OM,SEM and EDAX.The results show that of intermetallic compound containing RE formed depends on both elements in aluminium alloy and the content of rare earth.In GRAI,since RE have stronger interaction with Fe than with Si,thus forms Al-Fe-RE intermetallic compound,.When RE is above 0.3wt% AlCe3 and Al2La are formed besides Al-Fe-RE.In A356 aluminum alloys,0.3wt%RE and Si have strongly interaction,forming CeSi and La5Si3.However,RE and Mg,Fe have weak interaction.Mg reacts with Si forming Mg2Si.In 3003 aluminum alloys,0.3%RE addition mainly forms Al3Ce,LaSi and CeSi2,and RE has weak interaction with Fe and Mg.