Abstract: Nucleation sites of α-Al grains after addition of an Al-Ti-B master alloy into pure aluminium have been investigated using EPMA. The results show that either TiAl3 or boride particales can nucleate α-Al grains. But the number of TiAl3 nucleants is reduced with the holding time prolonged and the boride-nuclei are increasing gradually. Based on these results, a new refining method, adding molten Al-Ti-B into commercially pure aluminium, which has a quicker and better refining efficiency is presented.

Key words: Al-Ti-B master alloy, grain refinement, nucleation mechanism, α-Al nucleant