Chemical and mechanical properties of stainless, environment-friendly, and nonflammable Mg alloys (SEN alloys): A review

This review article provides overall understanding of stainless,environment-friendly,and nonflammable Mg alloys(SEN alloys)recently developed at the Korea Institute of Materials Science.SEN alloys are produced by adding small amounts of Ca and Y(each<1 wt%)into commercial Mg–Al based alloys,resulting in exceptional ignition and corrosion resistances and impressive mechanical properties.Their main advantages of SEN alloys are as follows.(1)A dense multi-oxide layer of SEN alloys comprising MgO,CaO,and Y_(2)O_(3) impedes the outward dispersion of Mg vapor and the inward penetration of O_(2) during oxidation,thereby enhancing the oxidation and ignition resistances.(2)The presence of Ca-and Y-based second-phase particles in SEN alloys can enhance their corrosion resistance because Ca-containing particles prevent the spread of corrosion,and the replacement of Al-containing particles with less noble ones containing Y(e.g.,Al–Mn–Y or Al–Y particles)retards corrosion.(3)The addition of minor amounts of Ca and Y renders excellent mechanical properties due to improved strengthening effects.These enhanced properties are attributed to more pronounced dynamic recrystallization and grain refining behaviors caused by the second-phase particles during extrusion.(4)Despite the presence of various types of second-phase particles,the fatigue properties of SEN9 alloys are similar to those of commercial AZ91 alloys.(5)Simultaneous introduction of Ca and Y suppresses the formation of Mg17Al12 discontinuous precipitates during aging,leading to the enhanced elongation of aged SEN alloys.(6)Adding mischmetal into the SEN9 alloy leads to a six-fold enhancement in extrudability.Consequently,the studies conducted on SEN alloys demonstrate their excellent ignition and corrosion resistances and mechanical properties,which broaden the industrial applications of Mg alloys by addressing their inherent weaknesses.

Recent research progress on magnesium alloys in Korea:A review

This review highlights the recent advancements in Mg research in South Korea with a prime focus on high-speed-extrudable Mg–Bi-based alloys for high productivity and strength, innovative techniques utilizing {10–12} twinning for improved mechanical properties, and alloying and processing methods for enhanced corrosion resistance. High-alloyed Mg–Bi-based alloys possess thermally stable α-Mg matrix and secondary phase, which ensures high-speed extrusion of these alloys at elevated temperatures without hot cracking. Consequently, they exhibit outstanding extrudability with a maximum extrusion speed of up to 70 m/min. Furthermore, their high alloying contents offer excellent strength even after high-speed extrusion through strong solid solution hardening and particle hardening effects, making them suitable for high-performance extruded Mg products. The pre-twinning process utilizing {10–12} twinning and the combined process of pre-twinning and subsequent annealing have shown promise in controlling microstructure and texture of wrought Mg alloys and thus enhancing their mechanical properties. The pre-twinning process enhances tensile strength, fatigue properties, and age-hardening rate of Mg alloys. Furthermore, the combined processes of pre-twinning and subsequent annealing considerably improve their ductility, stretch formability, bending formability,and damping capacity. Efforts have been made to improve the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys through alloying additions, process treatments,and surface coatings. Alloying elements like Ca, Sc, and Sm alter the microstructural features(such as secondary phases and grain size)that affect the corrosion phenomenon. Process treatments such as multidirectional forging, screw rolling, and pulse electron beam can also improve the corrosion resistance by refining the microstructure. Furthermore, advanced surface coating technologies can create durable and corrosion-resistant layers for effectively protecting the Mg alloys. All these research activities conducted in South Korea have considerably contributed to the widespread utilization of Mg alloys in diverse applications by overcoming the inherent limitations of Mg alloys such as low extrudability, formability, and corrosion resistance.

Acceleration of aging behavior and improvement of mechanical properties of extruded AZ80 alloy through(10–12) twinning

The effects of pre-existing {10–12} extension twins on the precipitation behavior of an extruded AZ80 material during aging and on its mechanical properties after peak aging are investigated. The material containing {10–12} twins-which are formed by compression before aging(twinned material)-has a finer grain size and higher dislocation density than the extruded material. Although the peak hardnesses of the twinned and extruded materials are almost the same, the time to reach the peak hardness is considerably shorter in the former material than in the latter(4 h and 24 h, respectively). In the twinned material, the high dislocation density of the {10–12} twins promotes continuous precipitation, which results in the formation of numerous fine Mg17Al12precipitates within the twins in the early stage of aging.The formation of these continuous precipitates reduces the driving force for discontinuous precipitation, which consequently suppresses the formation and growth of coarse Mg17Al12precipitates at the grain boundaries. Despite its shorter peak-aging time, the 4 h-peak-aged twinned material shows higher tensile strength and elongation than the 24 h-peak-aged extruded material. These higher mechanical properties of the former material are attributed primarily to the presence of more abundant fine continuous precipitates, which are effective in strengthening the material, and less abundant coarse discontinuous precipitates, which can act as crack initiation sites. These results demonstrate that the introduction of {10–12} twins into wrought Mg–Al-based alloys can accelerate the Mg17Al12precipitation kinetics considerably and improve the strength and ductility of the peak-aged alloys simultaneously.

Improved continuous precipitation kinetics and tensile properties of extruded AZ80 alloy through {10-12} twin formation

This study investigates the effect of {10-12} deformation twins on the continuous precipitation behavior of an extruded Mg-8.0Al-0.5Zn-0.2Mn(AZ80) alloy during aging. The extruded AZ80 alloy is compressed along the transverse direction to introduce {10-12} twins,followed by an aging treatment at 300 ℃. The extruded material exhibits a twin-free microstructure with low internal strain energy, whereas the pre-twinned material possesses abundant {10-12} twins and has high internal strain energy. The aging results reveal that the peak-aging time of the pre-twinned material(1 h) is one-eighth of that of the extruded material(8 h). Although Mg_(17)Al_(12) continuous precipitates(CPs)are observed in both the peak-aged materials, these CPs are much smaller and more densely distributed in the pre-twinned material despite the significantly shorter aging time. The CPs size in the peak-aged materials increases in the following order: twinned region in the pre-twinned material(0.47 μm) < residual matrix region in the pre-twinned material(1.71 μm) < matrix region in the extruded material(2.55 μm).Moreover, the CPs number density in the twinned region of the pre-twinned material is approximately 11 times higher than that in the matrix region of the extruded material. The peak-aged pre-twinned material exhibits significantly higher tensile strength and ductility than the peak-aged extruded material. These results demonstrate that the formation of {10-12} twins in the extruded AZ80 alloy substantially accelerates the static precipitation of CPs during aging at 300 ℃ and improves the tensile properties of the peak-aged material.

Variations in microstructure and bending formability of extruded Mg–Al–Zn–Ca–Y–MM alloy with precompression and subsequent annealing treatment conditions

In this study, the bending formability of an extruded Mg–9Al–1Zn–0.3Mn–0.9Ca–0.6Y–0.5 MM(AZXWMM91100, wt%) alloy at room temperature is significantly improved through application of a combined precompression and subsequent annealing(PCA) treatment. As the amount of precompression applied along the extrusion direction(ED)(i.e., the total strain) increases from 4% to 6%, the area fraction of ED-oriented grains of the PCA-treated alloy increases, which consequently causes an improvement in its bending formability because these grains accommodate larger tensile strain along the ED during bending. As the temperature of the subsequent annealing treatment increases from 350 ℃ to 450 ℃, both the area fraction of the ED-oriented grains and the average grain size increase, and the residual dislocation density decreases owing to the promotion of boundary migration and occurrence of the recovery process at higher temperatures.Consequently, the bending formability of both the 4%-precompressed and the 6%-precompressed samples increases with an increase in the annealing temperature. However, when the precompressed samples are annealed at 300 ℃, their bending formability is lower than that of the extruded alloy because the dislocations formed by precompression remain even after the subsequent annealing at this temperature.

Influence of undissolved second-phase particles on dynamic recrystallization behavior of Mg–7Sn–1Al–1Zn alloy during low-and high-temperature extrusions

This study investigates the effects of fine and coarse undissolved particles in a billet of the Mg–7 Sn–1 Al–1 Zn(TAZ711)alloy on the dynamic recrystallization(DRX)behavior during hot extrusion at low and high temperatures and the resultant microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy.To this end,partially homogenized(PH)and fully homogenized(FH)billets are extruded at temperatures of250 and 450°C.The PH billet contains fine and coarse undissolved Mg_(2) Sn particles in the interdendritic region and along the grain boundaries,respectively.The fine particles(<1μm in size)retard DRX during extrusion at 250°C via the Zener pinning effect,and this retardation causes a decrease in the area fraction of dynamically recrystallized(DRXed)grains of the extruded alloy.In addition,the inhomogeneous distribution of fine particles in the PH billet leads to the formation of a bimodal DRXed grain structure with excessively grown grains in particle-scarce regions.In contrast,in the FH billet,numerous nanosized Mg_(2) Sn precipitates are formed throughout the material during extrusion at 250°C,which,in turn,leads to the formation of small,uniform DRXed grains by the grain-boundary pinning effect of the precipitates.When the PH billet is extruded at the high temperature of 450°C,the retardation effect of the fine particles on DRX is weakened by their dissolution in theα-Mg matrix and the increased extent of thermally activated grain-boundary migration.In contrast,the coarse Mg_(2) Sn particles in the billet promote DRX during extrusion through the particle-stimulated nucleation phenomenon,which results in an increase in the area fraction of DRXed grains.At both low and high extrusion temperatures,the extruded material fabricated using the PH billet,which contains both fine and coarse undissolved particles,has a lower tensile strength than that fabricated using the FH billet,which is virtually devoid of second-phase particles.This lower strength of the former is attributed mainly to the larger grains and/or absence of nanosized M2 Sn precipitates in it.