Grain refinement of an aluminum alloy by introducing gas bubbles during solidification

A new technique to achieve grain refinement using gas bubbles to agitate a molten metal during solidification is reported. The effects of the processing conditions on the degree and homogeneity of the grain refinement are discussed. Results show that a fully grain-refined structure can be obtained using suitable processing conditions. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.