Thermodynamic re-assessment of the Mg-Gd-Y ternary system coupling with the driving forces for phase precipitations during aging process

Based on the available experimental phase equilibrium relations and aging precipitation sequences,the Mg–Gd–Y ternary system has been thermodynamically re-assessed by means of CALPHAD technique.To simulate the experimentally reported aging precipitation sequence,α(Mg)_(SS)(supersaturated)→GP zones(D019-type,metastable)→β’-Mg_(7)Gd(c-bco,metastable)→β_(1)-Mg_(3)Gd(fcc,metastable)→β-Mg_(5)Gd(fcc,stable)near the Mg–Gd side,andα(Mg)SS(supersaturated)→β’-Mg_(7)Y(c-bco,metastable)→β-Mg_(24)Y_(5)(bcc,stable)near the Mg–Y side,the effective nucleation driving forces obtained by deducting the nucleation resistances from the thermodynamic driving forces are calculated and analyzed.Two metastable components,GP zones(D019-type)andβ’(c-bco)ordered fromα(Mg)_(SS),do not exist in the stable equilibrium phase diagram but appear in the annealing process of typical alloys.The Redlich–Kister equations are adopted to describe three solution phases,Liquid,HCP_A3 and BCC_A2.The intermediate compounds Mg_(2)Y,Mg_(24)Y_(5),Mg_(2)Gd,Mg_(3)Gd and Mg_(5)Gd are expressed by the formulas of(Mg,Y)_(2/3)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/3),Mg_(24/29)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(4/29)Y1/29,(Gd,Mg)_(2/3)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/3),(Gd,Mg)_(3/4)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/4)and Mg_(5/6)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/6),respectively.In particular,the two-sublattice models(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/2)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/2),(Gd,Mg,Y)_(3/4)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/4)and(Gd,Mg,Y)_(7/8)(Gd,Mg,Y)_(1/8)have been respectively used to describe the stable Mg(Gd,Y)(BCC_B2)alloy compound as well as the metastable GP zones(D019-type)andβ’(c-bco)phase,in order to cope with the order-disorder transitions.A set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters has been obtained to ensure the thermodynamic calculations well consistent with the reported experimental data,containing not only the stable equilibrium phase diagram but also the aging precipitation sequence.

Phases equilibrated with long-period stacking ordered phases in the Mg-rich corner of the Mg-Y-Zn system

Phase equilibria involving the long-period stacking ordered phases including 14 H,18 R and 10 H in the Mg-rich corner of the Mg-Y-Zn system at 400 and 500℃ have been experimentally investigated by using X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy(HAADF-STEM).The coexistence of 14 H and 18 R as well as 18 R and 10 H was confirmed from atomic scales.The phases 14 H,18 R and 10 H were all stable phases from 400 to 500℃.The experimentally proved three-phase equilibrium of14 H,18 R and α-Mg instead of 14 H,18 R and Mg_(24)Y_(5) were presented in the modified isothermal sections.The latter three-phase equilibrium was reported in the available literature.The modified isothe rmal sections are conducive to guide the composition design to obtain the alloys with favorable microstructure constituents and mechanical properties.

Thermodynamic assessment of the Bi-Mg binary system

The Bi-Mg binary system had been assessed by adopting the ionic melt and the modified quasi-chemical models to describe the liquid phase with short range ordering behavior. In general considerations of the development of the thermodynamic database of the multi-component Mg-based alloys and the consistency of the thermodynamic models of the related phases, the Gibbs energy descriptions of all the phases in the Bi-Mg binary system were reasonably re-modeled and critically re-assessed in the present work. Especially for the liquid phase, the associate model was used with the constituent species Bi, Mg and Bi2Mg3. The Mg-rich terminal phase hcp_A3 was modeled as a substitutional solution following Redlich-Kister equation and the Bi-rich terminal phase Rhombohedral_A7 was treated as a pure Bi substance since the extremely small solubility of Mg in Bi. The low and high temperature non- stoichiometric compounds β-Bi2Mg3 and α-Bi2Mg3 were described by the sublattice models （Bi,Va）2Mg3 and （Bi）1（Bi,Va）3Mg6 respectively based on their structure features. A set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters of the Bi-Mg system was obtained and the experimental thermodynamic and phase equilibrium data were well reproduced by the optimized thermodynamic data.