{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T18:23:11Z","timestamp":1791224591834,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]],"date-time":"2023-04-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present article addresses solidification parameters, and includes analyses of the macrostructure and microstructure in the light of the results obtained from the thermal analysis, from which it is possible to conclude that undercooling (TS) and recalescence (TR) temperatures increase with the initial increase in titanium (Ti) concentration. If the concentration reaches approximately 0.25%, a rapid decrease in these temperatures is observed. Thereafter, the temperatures increase again with the further increase in Ti concentration, and eventually become constant. These temperatures also vary depending on the superheating and casting temperature. The \u2206T parameter (i.e., TS \u2212 TR) decreases with the Ti concentration and, from a concentration of around 0.20% Ti, this parameter becomes zero. The grain size decreases with the Ti concentration. If the concentration exceeds about 0.20%, the grain size becomes the minimum. Another parameter to be considered is the interaction between the grain refiner and the traces of other metals in the base Al alloy. For example, Al-4%B can react with traces of Ti that may exist in the base alloy, leading to the reaction between boron (B) and Ti to form TiB2. Grain refinement is achieved primarily with TiB2 rather than AlB2, or both, depending on the Ti content in the given alloy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma16072867","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]],"date-time":"2023-04-04T04:52:14Z","timestamp":1680583934000},"page":"2867","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["A Comparative Study of Grain Refining of Al-(7\u201317%) Si Cast Alloys Using Al-10% Ti and Al-4% B Master Alloys"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Agnes M.","family":"Samuel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement des Sciences Appliqu\u00e9es, Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ehab","family":"Samuel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement des Sciences Appliqu\u00e9es, Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0252-4102","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Victor","family":"Songmene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, \u00c9cole de Technologie Sup\u00e9rieure (\u00c9TS), Montr\u00e9al, QC H3A 1K3, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8873-8605","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fawzy H.","family":"Samuel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"D\u00e9partement des Sciences Appliqu\u00e9es, Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ramli, R., Talari, M.K., and Omar Arawi, A.Z. (2011, January 5\u20136). Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Si cast alloy grain refined with Ti-B-Sr-Sc-Mg. Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering, Penang, Malaysia.","DOI":"10.1109\/CHUSER.2011.6163822"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"592","DOI":"10.1016\/j.engfailanal.2017.04.037","article-title":"Effect of mould temperature, grain refinement and modification on hot tearing test in Al-7Si-3Cu alloy","volume":"79","author":"Rathi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Eng. Fail. Anal."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"7","article-title":"Grain Refinement of Al-Si Alloys: Scientific and Industrial Aspects","volume":"1","author":"Rathi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Mod. Thermodyn. Mech. Syst."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actamat.2012.10.038","article-title":"Extreme grain refinement by severe plastic deformation: A wealth of challenging science","volume":"61","author":"Estrin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Acta Mater."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.4236\/ojmetal.2014.43006","article-title":"Investigation on Microstructure and Grain Refining Performance of a New Type of Al-3Ti-1C Master Alloy","volume":"4","author":"Hassanbeygi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Open J. Met."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e004","DOI":"10.3989\/revmetalm.004","article-title":"Review of thermal analysis applications in aluminium casting plants","volume":"50","author":"Djurdjevic","year":"2014","journal-title":"Rev. Metal."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1236","DOI":"10.3390\/app8081236","article-title":"The Determination of Dendrite Coherency Point Characteristics Using Three New Methods for Aluminum Alloys","volume":"8","author":"Djurdjevic","year":"2018","journal-title":"Appl. Sci."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"6","article-title":"How does a good grain refiner work?","volume":"41","author":"Backerud","year":"1983","journal-title":"Light Met. Age"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02657335","article-title":"Study of the mechanism of grain refinement of aluminium after additions of Ti- and B-containing master alloys","volume":"24A","author":"Johnsson","year":"1993","journal-title":"Metall. Trans. A"},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Samuel, A.M., Alkahtani, S.A., Abuhasel, K., and Samuel, F.H. (2015). Light Metals 2015, Springer."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"321","article-title":"The Mechanism of Grain Refinement of Sand Castings in Aluminum, Alloys","volume":"76","author":"Cibula","year":"1949","journal-title":"J. Inst. Met."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1017","DOI":"10.1007\/s11661-005-0295-9","article-title":"Nucleation of Fe-intermetallic phases in the Al-Si-Fe alloys","volume":"36","author":"Khalifa","year":"2005","journal-title":"Metall. Mater. Trans. A"},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Khalifa, W., Doty, H.W., Valtierra Gallardo, S., and Samuel, F.H. (2016, January 16\u201319). Effect of Bismuth and Calcium Additions on the Performance of B319 Al Cast Alloy. Proceedings of the CastExpo & 120th Metalcasting Congress, Minneapolis, Minnesota."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"468","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matdes.2013.11.058","article-title":"Effect of grain refiner on the tensile and impact properties of Al\u2013Si\u2013Mg cast alloys","volume":"56","author":"Samuel","year":"2015","journal-title":"Mater. Des."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"2724","article-title":"Review of the latest developments in Grain refinement","volume":"2","author":"Singh","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. J. Mod. Eng. Res. (IJMER)"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tca.2010.06.026","article-title":"Thermal analysis during solidification of cast Al\u2013Si alloys","volume":"510","author":"Canales","year":"2010","journal-title":"Thermochim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1007\/s10973-011-1708-1","article-title":"The usage of computer-aided cooling curve thermal analysis to optimise eutectic refiner and modifier in Al\u2013Si alloys","volume":"109","author":"Farahany","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Therm. Anal. Calorim."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3233","DOI":"10.1007\/s11661-004-0067-y","article-title":"Nucleation of solid Aluminum on inclusion particles injected Into Al-Si-Fe alloys","volume":"35A","author":"Khalifa","year":"2004","journal-title":"Metall. Mater. Trans. A"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126532","DOI":"10.1088\/2053-1591\/ab562c","article-title":"The production and properties of Al3Ti reinforced functionally graded aluminum matrix composites produced by the centrifugal casting method","volume":"6","author":"Savas","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mater. Res. Express."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"1800259","article-title":"Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Al3Ti\/Al Composites Produced In Situ by High Shearing Technology","volume":"21","author":"Zeng","year":"2019","journal-title":"Light Mater. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apenergy.2015.10.164","article-title":"Thermal analysis of Al\u2013Si alloys as high-temperature phase-change material and their corrosion properties with ceramic materials","volume":"163","author":"Fukahori","year":"2016","journal-title":"Appl. Energy"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matchar.2017.03.039","article-title":"Characterization of the solidification path and microstructure of secondary Al-7Si-3Cu-0.3Mg alloy with Zr, V and Ni additions","volume":"128","author":"Rakhmonov","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mater. Charact."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"27","article-title":"The use of thermal analysis to predict the dendritic coherency point on nodular cast iron melts","volume":"29","author":"Anjosa","year":"2017","journal-title":"Ci\u00eanc. Tecnol. Mater."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1528","DOI":"10.1007\/s10853-009-4118-z","article-title":"Effects of Mg, Fe, Be additions and solution heat treatment on the pi-AlMgFeSi iron intermetallic phase in Al-7Si-Mg alloys","volume":"45","author":"Elsharkawi","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"500","DOI":"10.1179\/030634580790426157","article-title":"Ti(Al,Si)3 compound formation in non-equilibrated Al-Ti-Si","volume":"14","author":"Youdelis","year":"1980","journal-title":"Met. Sci."},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"343","article-title":"Effect of Sr\u2013Grain Refining\u2013Si Interactions on the Microstructural Characteristics of Al\u2013Si Hypoeutectic Alloys","volume":"12","author":"Tahiri","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Met."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"307","article-title":"Effect of Sr\u2013Grain Refiner\u2013Si Interactions on the Microstructure Characteristics of Al\u2013Si Hypereutectic Alloys","volume":"12","author":"Tahiri","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Met."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"371","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmatprotec.2006.02.012","article-title":"Grain refining of conventional and semi-solid A356 Al\u2013Si alloy","volume":"174","author":"Nafisi","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Mater. Process. Technol."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Birch, M.E.J., and Fisher, P. (1987). Solidification Processing, The Institute of Metals."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2244","DOI":"10.1016\/S1003-6326(14)63340-9","article-title":"Effects of Al-Ti-B-RE grain refiner on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-7.0Si-0.55Mg alloy","volume":"24","author":"Wang","year":"2014","journal-title":"Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cossms.2015.10.001","article-title":"Recent advances in grain refinement of light metals and alloys","volume":"20","author":"Easton","year":"2016","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Solid State Mater. Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7778","DOI":"10.1007\/s10853-018-2022-0","article-title":"Si poisoning and promotion on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al\u2013Si\u2013Mg cast alloys","volume":"53","author":"Dong","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci."}],"container-title":["Materials"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/16\/7\/2867\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:09:42Z","timestamp":1760123382000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/16\/7\/2867"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4]]}},"alternative-id":["ma16072867"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ma16072867","relation":{},"ISSN":["1996-1944"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1996-1944","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]]}}}