A Brief History of the Grain Refinement of Cast Light Alloys

The development of grain refinement technologies began in the 1930s in response to the need to improve the mechanical properties of as-cast components. Commercial grain refining technologies were developed by industrial and experimental trials often with good success including the production of effective master alloys. In parallel, researchers developed theories to explain the mechanisms of refinement in order to improve the efficiency of refiners and develop new better performing grain refining master alloys. This research continues today. Here we briefly present the history of these developments. It is shown that many developments in our understanding were based on assumptions arising from experimental and industrial observations and the prevailing solidification theories of the time.