The influences of B dopant on the crystal structure and nucleation ability of TiCx in the Al melt

Abstract The influences of B dopant on the crystal structure of TiC x and nucleation efficiency on α-Al are investigated in this paper. It was found that B solute atoms in the melt easily diffused into the crystal lattice of TiC x , meanwhile the f.c.c. crystal structure was preserved according to the EDS and TEM analysis. The doping effect of B in TiC x was reflected on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, in which the diffraction peak of (2 0 0) plane rose correspondingly. TiC x showed strong (1 1 1) orientation, but shifted to strong (2 0 0) after trace B doped. Furthermore, the grain refining ability of TiC x with strong (2 0 0) orientation induced by B dopant on commercial pure Al was improved obviously and the excellent refining performance was kept in a long holding time, which indicated that the structural stability of TiC x was enhanced after B doped.