Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/M12988/01
Title:	IMPROVED PROCESSING OF WROUGHT ALUMINIUM ALLOYS BY MODELLING AND CONTROL OF GRAIN REFINEMENT
Principal Investigator:	O'Reilly, Professor K
Other Investigators:	Schumacher, Prof Dr P
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Alcan London & Scandinavian Metallurgical Co
Department:	Materials
Organisation:	University of Oxford
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	24 March 1999	Ends:	23 March 2002	Value (£):	196,774
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Manufacturing
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The performance and processability of wrought Al alloys depends on control of the grain structure in DC-cast billets, achieved by addition of grain refiners. Existing industrial practice offers substantial scope for improvement of grain refining - greater efficiency so that less refiner can be used, efficiency less dependent on cooling rate, greater resistance to poisoning of refiners by solutes, more efficient refining of recycled alloys, less agglomeration of refiner. Fundamental studies of Al-Ti-B refiners have given greater understanding of nucleation mechanisms, and led to the development of improved refiner, but industrial interest now focuses on the potential for better performance offered by Al-Ti-C refiners. This project aims to characterise the performance of these new refiners, to understand the nucleation mechanism and to develop quantitative modelling of the refiner action capable of application to a range of alloys and processing conditions. The academic partners will work with a producer of grain refiners (LSM) and a user (Alcan) to develop improved refiners and refining practice. The work will include microscopical studies of nucleation (in glassy matrices), measurement of nucleation in melts (by sedimentation and calorimetry), modelling of refiner action to predict grain size, grain-refining tests, and pilot plant trials of DC casting.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ox.ac.uk