Effect of organic carbon sources on the anodic corrosion of magnesium AZ31B by sulfate-reducing prokaryote

Corrosion caused by sulfate-reducing prokaryotes(SRP)is an important cause of magnesium alloy anode failure in oil pipeline.In this study,the effects of Desulfovibrio sp.HQM3 on the corrosion behavior of AZ31B magnesium alloy anode in organic carbon sources with different contents in simulated tidal flat environment were analyzed using weight loss test,surface analysis and electrochemical analysis technologies.The results showed that the weight loss rate of coupons in low carbon sources contents(0%,1%,10%)was higher than that in 100%carbon sources.Electrochemical analyses showed that the corrosion current density(J_(corr))under low carbon sources contents was larger,while the charge transfer resistance(R_(ct))was lower,leading to a higher corrosion rate compared to those under 100%carbon sources content.Observations from scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and confocal laser scanning microscopy(CLSM)revealed more severe pitting corrosion on the alloy surface in the absence of carbon sources.In addition,a large number of nanowires were observed between bacteria on the alloy surface using SEM.Combined with thermodynamic calculations,it was demonstrated that the corrosion of coupons by Desulfovibrio sp.HQM3 in the absence of carbon sources was achieved through extracellular electron transfer.

Study of HCP→FCC phase transformation mechanism under different hot compression rates of AZ31 magnesium alloy

At present,there are few studies on the phase transition during the thermocompression plastic deformation of magnesium alloy.In this study,the evolution model of thermal compression plastic of AZ31 magnesium alloy was constructed by molecular dynamics,and the phase transition relationship between HCP and FCC at different thermal compression rates was studied.By combining GLEEBLE thermal compression experiment with transmission electron microscopy experiment,high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images were taken to analyze the transition rules between HCP and FCC during plastic deformation at different thermal compression rates,and the accuracy of molecular dynamics analysis was verified.It is found that the slip of Shockley’s incomplete dislocation produces obvious HCP→FCC phase transition at low strain rate and base plane dislocation at high strain rate,which makes the amorphous phase transition of HCP→OTHER more obvious,which provides theoretical guidance for the formulation of forming mechanism and preparation process of magnesium alloy.

Experimental and simulation research on hollow AZ31 magnesium alloy three-channel joint by hot extrusion forming with sand mandrel

Magnesium alloy is one of the lightest metal structural materials.The weight is further reduced through the hollow structure.However,the hollow structure is easily damaged during processing.In order to maintain the hollow structure and to transfer the stresses during the high temperature deformation,the sand mandrel is proposed.In this paper,the hollow AZ31 magnesium alloy three-channel joint is studied by hot extrusion forming.Sand as one of solid granule medium is used to fill the hollow magnesium alloy.The extrusion temperatures are 230℃ and 300℃,respectively.The process parameters(die angle,temperature,bottom thickness,sidewall thickness,edge-to-middle ratio in bottom,bottom shape)of the hollow magnesium alloy are analyzed based on the results of experiments and the finite element method.The results are shown that the formability of the hollow magnesium alloy will be much better when the ratio of sidewall thickness to the bottom thickness is 1:1.5.Also when edge-to-middle ratio in bottom is about 1:1.5,a better forming product can be received.The best bottom shape in these experiments will be convex based on the forming results.The grain will be refined obviously after the extrusion.Also the microstructures will be shown as streamlines.And these lines will be well agreement with the mold in the corner.

Superplasticity of AZ31 magnesium alloy prepared by friction stir processing

Microstructure and tensile behaviors of AZ31 magnesium alloy prepared by friction stir processing（FSP） were investigated.The results show that microstructure of the AZ31 hot-rolled plate with an average grain size of 92.0 μm is refined to 11.4 μm after FSP.The FSP AZ31 alloy exhibits excellent plasticity at elevated temperature,with an elongation to failure of 1050% at 723 K and a strain rate of 5×10-4 s-1.The elongation of the FSP material is 268% at 723 K and 1×10-2 s-1,indicating that high strain rate superplasticity could be achieved.On the other hand,the hot-rolled base material,which has a coarse grain structure,possesses no superplasticity under the experimental conditions.

Simulation on dynamic recrystallization behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy using cellular automaton method coupling Laasraoui Jonas model

The dynamic recrystallization （DRX） process of AZ31 magnesium alloy including microstructure and dislocation density evolution during hot compression was simulated by adopting the cellular automaton （CA） method coupling the Laasraoui-Jonas model （LJ model）. The reliability of simulation depended on the accuracy of the hardening parameter, the recovery parameter and the strain rate sensitivity in the LJ model. The hardening parameter was calculated in terms of the LJ model and the Kocks-Mecking model （KM model）, and then the recovery parameter and the strain rate sensitivity were obtained by using the equation of steady state flow stress for DRX. Good agreements between the simulations and the experimental observations were achieved.

Corrosion resistance of cerium-doped zinc calcium phosphate chemical conversion coatings on AZ31 magnesium alloy

Zinc calcium phosphate （Zn-Ca-P） coating and cerium-doped zinc calcium phosphate （Zn-Ca-Ce-P） coating were prepared on AZ31 magnesium alloy. The chemical compositions, morphologies and corrosion resistance of coatings were investigated through energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDS）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, electron probe micro-analysis （EPMA） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） together with hydrogen volumetric and electrochemical tests. The results indicate that both coatings predominately contain crystalline hopeite （Zn3（PO4）2·4H2O）, Mg3（PO4）2 and Ca3（PO4）2, and traces of non-crystalline MgF2 and CaF2. The Zn-Ca-Ce-P coating is more compact than the Zn-Ca-P coating due to the formation of CePO4, and displays better corrosion resistance than the Zn-Ca-P coating. Both coatings protect the AZ31 Mg substrate only during an initial immersion period. The micro-galvanic corrosion between the coatings and their substrates leads to an increase of hydrogen evolution rate （HER） with extending the immersion time. The addition of Ce promotes the homogenous distribution of Ca and formation of hopeite. The Zn-Ca-Ce-P coating has the potential for the primer coating on magnesium alloys.

Effects of Sr and Y on microstructure and corrosion resistance of AZ31 magnesium alloy

The effects of Sr and Y with different contents on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of AZ31 alloy were investigated. The results indicate that the addition of Sr can obviously reduce the grain size of AZ31 alloy and transform β-Mg 17 Al 12 phase from continuous network to scattered form. Simultaneously, Al 4 Sr phase distributed along the boundaries of grains is formed in AZ31-Sr magnesium alloys. The addition of Sr is not as effective as the simultaneous addition of Sr＋Y for the refinement of grains, and Al 2 Y and Al 3 Y phases are distributed both in intracrystalline and along grain boundaries. The corrosion resistance is improved slightly in AZ31 alloy with simultaneous addition of 0.5%Sr＋Y. Due to its smallest corrosion current density and corrosion rate, the corrosion resistance of AZ31-0.5%Sr-1.5%Y magnesium alloy is proved the best.

Crystal anisotropy of AZ31 magnesium alloy under uniaxial tension and compression

To investigate the deformation twinning and the plastic anisotropy of the hexagonal-close-packed（HCP） single crystal, the crystal plastic constitutive model including slip and twinning deformation was established with finite element method based on crystal plasticity theory. The model was verified by test data. Newton-Raphson iteration method was developed with the stress components directly as the basic variables of iteration. The plastic deformation behavior of single crystal AZ31 alloy was analyzed numerically under monotonic tension and compression, respectively, in four different strain paths（i.e. along 〈2110〉, 〈 0110〉, 〈0001〉 and 〈0111〉） with this model. The stress-strain curves were obtained in the above paths. The numerical calculation results show that this crystal model is feasible to predict the activity of slip/twinning system and to describe the number of active twin variants, the types of dominant twin variants and twin intersection. Due to the polar nature of mechanical twinning in inelastic deformation of the material, the plastic behavior of the single crystal material is demonstrated to be notably anisotropic and high asymmetry.

Temperature evolution and fatigue life evaluation of AZ31B magnesium alloy based on infrared thermography

The surface temperature of extruded AZ31B alloy plate was measured by infrared thermograph in air during tension and high-cycle fatigue tests. The mechanism of heat production was discussed and the value of critical fatigue damage temperature was calculated according to the P—ΔT curve. Results show that the variation trend of temperature is different between tension and fatigue tests. The temperature evolution in tension test consists of four stages： linear decrease, reverse linear increase, abrupt increase, and final drop. The initial decrease of temperature is caused by thermal elastic effect, which is corresponding to the elastic deformation in tension progress. When cyclic loading is above the fatigue limit, the temperature evolution mainly undergoes five stages： initial increase, steep reduction, steady state, abrupt increase, and final drop. The peak temperature in fatigue test is caused by strain hardening that can be used to evaluate the fatigue life of magnesium alloy. The critical temperature variation that causes the fatigue failure is 3.63 K. When ΔT≤3.63 K, the material is safe under cyclic loading. When ΔT3.63 K, the fatigue life is determined by cycle index and peak temperature.

Deformation mechanism and softening effect of extruded AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet at moderate temperatures

The flow stress behavior of extruded AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet was investigated by means of compression tests at temperatures between 473 and 523 K and strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 1.0 s-1. The deformation activation energy of the sheet in extrusion direction （ED） was calculated, and the relationship between the softening effect and deformation mechanism was elucidated by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that when the extruded AZ31 magnesium alloy samples were compressed at moderate temperatures in ED direction, the deformation activation energy is 174.18 kJ/mol, which means that dynamic recrystallization （DRX） is the main softening effect and is controlled by cross slip of thermal active dislocation. Dislocation slip is the main deformation mechanism in moderate-temperature deformation process except twinning. The main DRX effect at moderate temperatures can be considered to be continuous dynamic recrystallization accommodated with twinning DRX.

As-cast microstructure and Sr-containing phases of AZ31 magnesium alloys with high Sr contents

The as-cast microstructure and Sr-containing phases in the AZ31 magnesium alloys with different Sr contents （0%, 0.3%, 2.5% and 5.0%, mass fraction） were investigated. The results indicate that after adding Sr to the AZ31 magnesium alloy, the dendrite/grain size is decreased, and with the Sr content increasing from 0 to 5.0%, the dendrite becomes finer, the dendrite morphology becomes more passive and the distribution of alloying phases at dendrite/grain boundary is dispersed. Furthermore, the morphology of the β-Mg 17 Al 12 phase in the alloy with addition of 0.3%Sr changes from continuously irregular strip-like shape to discontinuously irregular strip-like shape and/or fine granule-like shape. At the same time, some lamella-like eutectic phases are found in the alloys with additions of 2.5% Sr and 5.0% Sr, and the lamella spacing in the alloy with addition of 5.0% Sr is finer. Adding high Sr content to the AZ31 alloy can bring the new ternary eutectic and/or divorced eutectic phase of Mg 11 Al 5 Zn 4 in the alloy, and the Mg 17 Sr 2 and Mg 2 Sr phases are formed in the alloys with additions of 2.5% Sr and 5.0% Sr.

Effects of grain size on shift of neutral layer of AZ31 magnesium alloy under warm condition

The effects of grain size on the shift of neutral layer of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets with different grain sizes ranging from 12.1 to 34.7μm were investigated by the 90° V-bending tests at 150 °C. The results show that the neutral layer tends to shift to outer region of the sheets and the coefficient of neutral layer value (k-value) increases with the increasing grain size. This phenomenon is mainly owing to the enhanced asymmetry between the outer tension region and inner compression region with the increase of grain size. Twinning dominates the deformation in inner region while slips dominate the deformation in outer region.

Evolution of twins and texture and its effects on mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets under different rolling process parameters

In order to investigate the dependence of microstructure and mechanical properties on the rolling process parameters, AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets with different grain sizes, basal texture intensities and twinning types were obtained using hot rolling at various temperatures and reductions. The volume fractions of the extension, contraction and secondary twins in the as-rolled sheets depend on the grain size. The highest volume fractions of three types of twins are obtained at 523 K under the reduction of 10% when the average grain size value is the maximum. The critical reductions for complete dynamic recrystallization are 30% at 523 K and 40% at 473 K. The increase of yield strength is ascribed to both grain-refinement strengthening and basal texture strengthening at the first stage. When the grain size does not decrease with increasing the reduction, the yield strength is mainly influenced by the texture weakening.

Effect of Al_2Ca intermetallic compound addition on grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy

The Al2Ca intermetallic compound was prepared by melting process in a vacuum induction furnace. And the A12Ca compound was added in as-cast AZ31 alloys for grain refinement. The effect of its additional levels on grain refinement of as-cast AZ31 alloy was investigated and the mechanism of the grain refinement was discussed. The results reveal that the addition of 1.1% Al2Ca （mass fraction） decreases the average grain size of as-cast AZ31 alloy from 354 to 198 μm. And the thermal stability of the grains refined by Al2Ca is superior. The grain refining mechanism is attributed to the combined effects of solute and heterogeneous nucleation from the Al2Ca.

Influence of strain rate on microstructure and formability of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheets

The effects of strain rate on microstructure and formability of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheets were investigated through uniaxial tensile tests and hemispherical punch tests with strain rates of 10^-4, 10^-3, 10^-2, 10^-1 s^-1 at 200℃. The results show that the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization grains increases and the original grains are gradually replaced by recrystallization grains with the strain rate decreasing. A larger elongation and a smaller r-value are obtained at a lower strain rate, moreover the erichsen values become larger with the strain rate reducing, so the formability improves. This problem arises in part from the enhanced softening and the coordination of recrystallization grains during deformation.

Grain refinement mechanism of Al-5C master alloy in AZ31 magnesium alloy

Al-5C master alloy was prepared by powder in situ synthesis process, and its effects on grain refinement of AZ31 alloy and refining mechanism were investigated. The results indicate that the AI 5C master alloy consists of a（Al） and A14C3 phases, and the size distribution of Al4C3 particles is controlled by sintering time. The AI 5C master alloy can remarkably reduce the grain size of AZ31 alloy, which decreases with the increasing addition amount of AI-SC master alloy when the addition amount is below 2%. The refining mechanism is attributed to the formation of new compounds of Al-C-Mnparticles by Al4C3 and Mn, which might act as nucleating substrates for a-Mg grain.

Fatigue fracture mechanism of AZ31B magnesium alloy and its welded joint

Fatigue test was carried out on AZ31B magnesium alloy. Under 2×10 6 cycle times, the fatigue strengths of base metal （BM）, butt joint （BJ）, transverse cross joint （TJ）, lateral connection joint （LJ） are 66.72, 39.00, 24.38 and 24.40 MPa, respectively. The crack propagation behavior of the alloy was analyzed by optical microscopy. The AZ31B magnesium alloy base metal has a smooth crack propagation macroscopic path. However, the microscopic path is twisted and some cracks have two forks, and the crack propagation is transgranular. The crack initiates in the weld toe and the crack propagates along the HAZ for the BJ and TJ; for the LJ crack initiates in the fillet weld leg. The fatigue fracture mechanisms were analyzed by SEM. The fatigue fracture surface consists of quasi-cleavage patterns or cleavage step and a brittle fracture occurs. Numerous secondary cracks are observed; some fatigue striations exist in butt joint and its size is about 5 μm.

Microstructure of asymmetric twin-roll cast AZ31 magnesium alloy

The microstructural distribution along thickness of asymmetric twin-roll cast AZ31 magnesium alloy slab was investigated. It was found that the microstructure along the thickness of the slab was significantly inhomogeneous. There were many deformed bands with flow form near the upper surface of twin-roll cast plate. Very few deformed bands could be seen in the central part of the plate where the dendrites were thick. Fine dendritic structures dominated near the lower surface of the twin-roll cast strip. It is concluded that the shear strain caused by linear velocity difference between surfaces of upper and lower rolls results in the deformed bands of the twin-roll cast slab. Aluminum, zinc and manganese segregate to the boundary of dendrites, while silicon distributes inside the α-Mg solid solution.

Microstructure and properties of alloying coating on AZ31B magnesium alloy

Vacuum thermal diffusion technique was applied to preparing alloying coating on AZ31 B magnesium alloy. The microstructure and phase composition of the coatings prepared at different holding time were investigated in detail using optical microscopy（OM）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy dispersive spectrometer（EDS） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）, and so on. The microhardness tester and electrochemical workstation（PS-168a） were used to measure the microhardness and corrosion resistance of the alloying coating. The results showed that the alloying coatings gradually generated with the extension of holding time under constant temperature. And the obvious bonding interface between the coating and substrate was observed, and the bonding interface was changed from smooth to zigzag. EDS and XRD analyses showed that the microstructure of alloying coating mainly consisted of eutectic α-Mg phase and continuous network β-Al（12）Mg（17） phase. The average microhardness of the coatings increased by 113% in comparison to the substrate, and the self-corrosion potential increased from-1.389 to-1.268 V at the same time.

Welding characteristics of AZ31B magnesium alloy using DC-PMIG welding

Direct current pulsed metal inert-gas （DC-PMIG） welding was carried out on AZ31B magnesium alloy to obtain continuous welding joints of 3 mm and 8 mm thickness with 1.6 mm diameter of filler wire. The behavior and mechanism of metal transfer, the parameter ranges of stable welding process, the microstructure and mechanical properties of magnesium alloy were investigated. The results show that the metal transfer form of magnesium alloy using DC-PMIG welding is realized in modes of globular transfer, projected transfer and spray transfer. Welding spatter with a large size will be produced in the mode of globular transfer, and high-quality joints with few spatters can be obtained in the mode of projected transfer and spray transfer when the linear energy of filler wire is 242-27l J/cm, droplet diameter is 1.6-0.9 mm tensile strength of weld beads is 94.2% of that of base metals. and transition frequency is 30-69 Hz. The average ultimate