Microstructural evolution of AZ91 magnesium alloy during extrusion and heat treatment

Microstructural evolution of AZ91 magnesium alloy was investigated during homogenizing annealing treatment, hot extrusion and ageing treatment, respectively. The results exhibited that both the divorced eutectic β-Mg17Al12 and the precipitated β-Mg17Al12 phases appeared in the as-cast alloy. The β-Mg17Al12 phase dissolved into α-Mg matrix mostly and the structure kept fine after the optimized homogenization treatment at 380 °C for 15 h. Dynamic recrystallization and consequent grain refinement occurred during extrusion. The banded β-Mg17Al12 precipitates paralleled to the extrusion direction were observed after ageing treatment. The banded precipitation should be attributed to the solidification segregation which was elongated during the subsequent extrusion. Furthermore, the effects of temperature, holding time of homogenization and ageing treatment, and extrusion processing parameters on the microstructural evolution of AZ91 alloy were also discussed in details according to the experimental results.

Modification and refinement effects of Sb and Sr on Mg_(17)Al_(12) and Mg_2Si phases in Mg-12Al-0.7Si alloy

The effects of Sb and Sr on the modification and refinement of Mg17Al12 and Mg2Si phases in Mg- 12Al-0.7Si alloy were investigated and compared. The microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-12Al0.7Si alloy and its modification mechanism by Sb and Sr were investigated using a scanning electron microscope （SEM）, an energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and differential thermal analysis （DTA）. The results indicate that by adding 0.5wt.% Sb to the Mg-12Al-0.7Si alloy, the Mg17Al12 phase was refined and broken into some discontinuous island structures. However, some network Mg17Al12 phases still can be detected in Mg-12Al-0.7Si-0.09Sr alloy. Therefore, Sb performs better in modification and refinement of Mg17Al12 phase than does Sr. Small amounts of fine polygonal shaped Mg2Si phases were found in Mg-12AI-0.7Si-0.5Sb alloy, while the morphology of Mg2Si phases in Mg-12Al-0.7Si-0.09Sr alloy changed from the coarse Chinese script shapes to fine granule and irregular polygonal shapes, indicating that the effects of modification and refinement on Mg2Si phase are more significant by adding 0.09wt.% Sr than 0.5wt.% Sb. The ultimate tensile strengths of the Sb and Sr modified Mg-12Al-0.7Si alloys were considerably increased both at room temperature and at 200 ℃.

Microstructure and texture evolution of the β-Mg17A12 phase in a Mg alloy with an ultra-high Al content

In the present study,the effects of equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)on the microstructure and mechanical property of the Mg-20Al alloy were systematically investigated.For the first time,the texture of Mg17Al12 phase and its evolution with ECAP conditions were reported.The results show that increasing the processing temperature and passes generates more uniform distribution and finer size ofβ-Mg17Al12 phases.The large pieces ofβ-Mg17A12 phases are composed of many fine grains with different crystallographic orientations.For theβ-Mg17A12 phase,a preferred distribution of(001)appears at 523 K and 573 K,and hardly varies with temperature.Nevertheless,a random texture is observed at 623 K.The(0002)poles exhibit a preferred distribution at 473 K,but this preferred distribution varies with temperature.A random distribution of(0002)poles is observed when processed at 623 K.Many types of crystallographic planar relationship betweenβ-Mg17A12 phase andα-Mg matrix are observed and the relationships of{11-23}//{100}or{110}or{111}and{1-211}//{100}or//{110}or{111}have a relatively higher frequency than others.The texture ofα-Mg matrix is much different from that of the ECAPed Mg alloys with a relative low Al content,in which a texture with basal poles inclining approximately 45°away from the extrusion direction often develops.The mechanical properties of Mg-20Al alloy are closely related to the temperature and passes of ECAP.A higher temperature often decreases the yield strength,but hardly alters the maximum strength.There is a low plasticity for all the samples and increasing processing temperature slightly enhances the plasticity.The corresponding mechanisms were deeply discussed.