Is Mg_(17)Al_(12) ductile or brittle?A theoretical insight

The Mg_(17)Al_(12)-phase,which is common and important in Mg-Al alloy,has long been regarded as a brittle phase in experiments but theoretical calculations report controversial results.To unravel why theoretical calculations report controversial results and determine whether Mg_(17)Al_(12)is brittle or ductile,density functional theory calculations on atomic level are performed to investigate mechanic properties of Mg_(17)Al_(12)without containing alloying elements and without taking the size effect.The results showed that the parameter k-point played critical role in the DFT-based elastic calculations.The convergent G/B ratio of Mg_(17)Al_(12)was about 0.52,suggesting that the Mg_(17)Al_(12)-phase was theoretically ductile although its ductility was poor.The chemical bonding in Mg_(17)Al_(12)was the mixture of metallic Mg-Mg bond and covalent Al-Al bond.The advantage of metallic bonding over covalent bonding provided a possible explanation for the ductility of Mg_(17)Al_(12).Possible reasons for the brittleness of Mg_(17)Al_(12)in experiments are also discussed.

Fabrication of cellular Zn–Mg alloy foam by gas release reaction via powder metallurgical approach

By using CaCO3 as the ＂blowing agent＂, Zn–（10–50） wt% Mg alloy foams with close-pore structure were fabricated by the powder metallurgical route. The key of successful foaming is Mg addition and the proper sintering treatment, which lead to the formation of intermetallic compounds and can make the gas release reaction between Mg melt and CaCO3 happen the during foaming process.

Stress corrosion cracking behaviors of RE-containing ME21 magnesium alloy processed by equal-channel angular pressing

A commercial as-cast ME21 magnesium alloy containing rare-earth (RE) element was processed by equalchannel angular pressing to obtain fine-grained micro structure. Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behaviors of the fine-grained samples were studied by slow-strain-rate testing in air, distilled water and Hanks’solution at the strain rate of 1×10^(-6) s^(-1). All samples show a relatively low SCC sensitivity in distilled water but a great SCC tendency in Hanks’ solution. The microscopic observations of the fracture surfaces and the side surfaces reveal obvious active anodic dissolution and hydrogen embrittlement cracks, which indicate the higher SCC susceptibility in Hanks'solution. The fine-grained microstructure with more crystal defects promotes the passivation process of the oxide film and restrains the hydrogen induced cracking of the ME21 magnesium alloy, leading to the higher general corrosion resistance as well as SCC resistance.

Effect of Decomposition Kinetics of Titanium Hydride on the Al Alloy Melt Foaming Process

The gas released from the titanium hydride decomposition is one of the key factors to influence the Al alloy melt foaming process.In this study,a set of decomposition kinetic equations of titanium hydride was acquired by separating its temperature programmed decomposition(TPD) spectrum,which was acquired by a special designed TPD apparatus with argon used as carrier gas and thermal conductivity cell as the detector.According to these equations,the decomposition and hydrogen release characteristics of titanium hydride at a fixed/elevated temperature are described quantitatively,which can be applied to forecast the Al alloy melt foaming process and furnish the theoretical basis for fabrication of three-dimensional complex shaped Al alloy foam.