The effects of melting process on Zr content and grain size in ZE41A alloy were investigated in this study. The results show that the soluble Zr increases with the increased addition content of Mg-Zr master, up to 0.87%. The ratio of Zr addition content to soluble Zr content changes within 3.86-4.8. The melt temperature has little effect on soluble Zr content. Grain size grows and both soluble Zr and total Zr decrease with the prolonged isothermal holding of the melt.

The effects of cooling condition on the Zr-rich core formation and grain size in Mg-Zr alloys were investigated in this study. Four moulds with various cooling rates and different Zr additions were used. The results show that when Zr addition was 1.2%, the Zr-rich cores were round and their diameters increased with decreased cooling rates. When Zr addition content was decreased to 0.7%, Zr-rich cores formed only in the sand mould with the lowest cooling rate used in this study, and the morphology changed to rosette-like. The influence of cooling rate on grain size of Mg-Zr alloys was also investigated.