Solidification microstructure evolution and its correlations with mechanical properties and damping capacities of Mg-Al-based alloy fabricated using wire and arc additive manufacturing

Magnesium(Mg)alloys,as the lightest metal structural material with good damping capacities,have im-portant application prospects in realizing structural lightweight and vibration reduction.However,their engineering application is greatly limited by poor plastic formability.Wire and arc additive manufactur-ing(WAAM)provides a potential approach for fabricating large-scale Mg alloy components with high manufacturing flexibility.In this study,the evolution of the solidification microstructure of a WAAM-processed Mg-Al-based alloy was quantitatively analyzed based on the analytical models;then,the cor-relations between the solidification microstructure and mechanical properties/damping capacities were investigated.The results revealed that the WAAM-processed Mg-Al-based alloy with an equiaxed-grain-dominated microstructure displayed a simultaneous enhancement in mechanical properties and damping capacities compared to those of the cast Mg-Al-based alloy.The good combination of mechanical prop-erties and damping capacities are mainly attributed to the weakened basal texture with a relatively high Schmid factor for basalslip,the twinning-induced plasticity(TWIP)effect associated with the profuse{10-12}tensile twinning,and the relatively high dislocation density caused by the thermal stress during the WAAM process.