Effect of Li on formation of long period stacking ordered phases and mechanical properties of Mg-Gd-Zn alloy

Alloys with composition of Mg_(96-x)Gd_3Zn_1Li_x(at.%)(x=0, 2, 4, and 6) were prepared by conventional casting. The microstructures of these alloys under as-cast and solid-solution conditions have been observed, and the mechanical properties were investigated. The results showed that Li is an effective element to refine the grains and break the eutectic networks in as-cast MgGd_3Zn_1 alloy. During solid solution treatment, these broken eutectic networks are spheroidized and highly dispersed. In addition, plentiful lamellar long period stacking ordered(LPSO) phases are precipitated in an α-Mg matrix when the Li addition is not more than 4%. Solid-solution treated Mg_(92)Gd_3Zn_1Li_4 alloy exhibits an optimal ultimate tensile strength(UTS) of 226 MPa and elongation of 5.8%. The strength of MgGd_3Zn_1 alloy is improved significantly, meanwhile, the toughness is apparently increased.

Microstructure characterization and corrosion behavior of Mg-Y-Zn alloys with different long period stacking ordered structures

Mg-Y-Zn alloys with long period stacking ordered(LPSO)structure have received much attention recently and exhibit great potential in applications such as automotive,aerospace and in bio-medical fields.This paper aimed to investigate the effect of different phase constitution of LPSO structures on corrosion rate of bio-medical Mg-Y-Zn alloys.The results showed that as-cast Mg98.5Y1Zn0.5 alloys containing only 18R structure exhibited the highest corrosion resistance with the corrosion rate of 2.78 mm/year.The precipitation of 14H lamellas within a-Mg grains during solid solution treatment introduced the crystallographic orientation corrosion by accelerating micro-galvanic corrosion.The increase of 18R/14H interfaces deteriorated the corrosion resistance,and the grain boundaries also suffered from severe electrochemical dissolution.This work suggested that Mg-Y-Zn alloys with single LPSO structure(either 18R or 14H)exhibited better corrosion resistance than alloys with co-existence 18R and I4H LPSO structures.

Dilute long period stacking/order(LPSO)-variant phases along the composition gradient in a Mg-Ho-Cu alloy

We have systematically investigated the microstructures of as-cast Mg_(97.49)Ho_(1.99)Cu_(0.43)Zr_(0.09)alloy by atomic resolution high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy(HAADF-STEM), revealing the coexistence of 18R, 14H and 24R long period stacking/order(LPSO) phases with fully coherent interfaces along step-like composition gradient in a blocky intermetallic compound distributed at grain boundary. The short-range order(SRO) L1_(2)-type Cu_(6)Ho_(8)clusters embedded across AB’C’A-stacking fault layers are directly revealed at atomic scale. Importantly, the order degree of SRO clusters in the present dilute alloy is significant lower than previous 6M and 7M in-plane order reported in ternary Mg-TM(transition metal)-RE(rare earth) alloys, which can be well matched by 9M in-plane order. This directly demonstrates that SRO in-plane L1_(2)-type clusters can be expanded into more dilute composition regions bounded along the definite TM/RE ratio of 3/4. In addition, the estimated chemical compositions of solute enriched stacking fault(SESF) in all LPSO variants are almost identical with the ideal SESF composition of 9M in-plane order, regardless of the type of LPSO phases. The results further support the viewpoint that robust L1_(2)-type TM_(6)RE_(8)clusters play an important role in governing LPSO phase formation.

Formation Behavior of 14H Long Period Stacking Ordered Structure in Mg–Y–Zn Cast Alloys with Different α-Mg Fractions

Phase compositions and microstructure evolutions of three Mg-Y-Zn cast alloys during isothermal annealing at 773 K have been systematically investigated to clarify the formation behavior of 14 H long period stacking ordered（LPSO） structure from α-Mg grains.The annealed microstructure characteristics indicate that the 18 R phase is thermal stable in Mg86Y8Zn6 alloy where 18 R serves as matrix,and 14 H lamellar phase only forms within tiny α-Mg slices（less than 1% for volume fraction）.The α-Mg grains in Mg88Y8Zn4 and Mg89Y8Zn3 alloys exhibit cellular shape,and 14 H phase forms and develops into lamellar shape in these cellular grains after annealing.The results suggest that the presence of α-Mg grains is a requirement for the generation of 14 H phase.The nucleation and growth rates of 14 H lamellas are accelerated in α-Mg grains with higher concentrations of stacking faults and solute atoms.Moreover,the 14 H lamellas are parallel to adjacent 18 R plates in Mg86Y8Zn6 alloy,but the 14 H phase precipitated in cellularα-Mg grains of Mg88Y8Zn4 and Mg89Y8Zn3 alloys exhibits random orientation relationship with surrounding 18 R phase,indicating that the orientation relationship between 14 H and 18 R phases depends on the relationship between α-Mg grains and 18 R phase.

Microstructure and yield phenomenon of an extruded Mg-Y-Cu alloy with LPSO phase

A yield phenomenon was firstly reported in an extruded Mg-6.8Y-2.5Cu alloy and the corresponding microstructure was also investigated in this work,The cast alloy is mainly composed ofα-Mg,18R long period stacking order(LPSO)phase,eutectic phase(Mg_(20)Cu_(4)Y_(1)),and Mg_(2)Cu phase.The 18R LPSO phase at the dendritic grain boundary transforms into the 14H LPSO phase in the grain interior during homogenization.After extrusion,the grain size of the homogenized alloy is remarkably refined to-3.69μm and the second phase is significantly broken and distributed in the extrusion direction.Tensile testing curves of the extrude alloy at room temperature indicate that the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increase while the elongation of the alloy decreases with increasing strain rate.Interestingly,a yield plateau fo rms and gradually decreases with increasing strain rate.The yield phenomenon is related to the dislocation multiplication and the interaction between the movable dislocations and solute atoms.

Controlling Corrosion Resistance of a Biodegradable Mg–Y–Zn Alloy with LPSO Phases via Multi-pass ECAP Process

Mg-RE(rear earth) alloys with long period stacking(LPSO) structures have great potential in biomedical applications. The present work focused on the microstructure and corrosion behaviors of Mg 98.5 Y1 Zn0.5 alloys with 18 R LPSO structure after equal channel angular pressing(ECAP). The results showed that the ECAP process changed the grain size and the distribution of LPSO particles thus controlled the total corrosion rates of Mg 98.5 Y1 Zn0.5 alloys. During the ECAP process from 0 p to 12 p, the grain size reduced from 160–180 μm(as-cast) to 6–8 μm(12 p). The LPSO structures became kinked(4 p), then started to be broken into smaller pieces(8 p), and at last comminuted to fine particles and redistributed uniformly inside the matrix(12 p). The improvement in the corrosion resistance for ECAP samples was obtained from 0 p to 8 p, with the corrosion rate reduced from 3.24 mm/year(0 p) to 2.35 mm/year(8 p) in simulated body fluid, and the 12 p ECAP alloy exhibited the highest corrosion rate of 4.54 mm/year.

Comparative Study on Corrosion Behavior and Mechanism of As-Cast Mg-Zn-Y and Mg-Zn-Gd Alloys

Rare earth(RE)elements have large solid solubility in magnesium and are widely used to regulate the microstructure and property of advanced magnesium alloys.However,different kinds of RE elements have different effects on microstructure and property of the alloy.In this study,a Mg-Zn-Y alloy and a Mg-Zn-Gd alloy with alloying elements of the same atomic percentage were designed to clarify the effect of yttrium(Y)and gadolinium(Gd)on the corrosion behavior of as-cast MgZn_(2)_Y(2.66) and MgZn_(2)Gd_(2.66)alloys.The results show that the MgZn_(2)_Y(2.66) alloy is mainly composed ofα-Mg phase and long period stacking ordered(LPSO)phase,while MgZn_(2)Gd_(2.66)alloy is mainly composed ofα-Mg phase and(Mg,Gd)_(3)Zn phase(W phase).Generally speaking,the corrosion phenomena of the two alloys in 3.5 wt%NaCl solution are similar.In the early stages of exposure,the alloys underwent uniform corrosion at a relatively low corrosion rate.With prolonged exposure,localized corrosion became dominated and the corrosion rate was greatly increased.However,the corrosion rate of the MgZn_(2)_Y(2.66) alloy,in terms of the corrosion current density,is about one order of magnitude lower than that of the MgZn_(2)Gd_(2.66)alloy.The high corrosion resistance of the MgZn_(2)_Y(2.66) alloy is mainly attributed to the presence of LPSO phase in form of continuous networks and the relatively high corrosion resistance of the corrosion product layer on the alloy.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of an Extruded Mg-2Dy-0.5Zn Alloy

Microstructure and mechanical properties of an extruded Mg-2Dy-0.5Zn （at.%） alloy during isothermal ageing at 180℃ were investigated. Microstructure of the as-extruded alloy is mainly composed of α-Mg phase, 14H long period stacking order （LPSO） phase and small amounts of （Mg, Zn）=Dy particle phases. During ageing, the 14H LPSO phase forms and develops and its volume fraction increases with increasing ageing time. Tensile test showed that the peak-aged alloy exhibits similar yield and ultimate tensile strengths and elongation to failure at room temperature, 100℃ and 200℃, but excellent elevated temperature strengths at 300℃ as compared to the as-extruded and over-aged alloys. The analysis showed that the excellent elevated temperature strengths of the peak-aged alloy are attributed to the LPSO phase strengthening and the grain refinement strengthening, and the role of the LPSO strengthening is related to not only its amount, but also its morphology.

Effect of Hydrostatic Pressure on LPSO Kinking and Microstructure Evolution of Mg–11Gd–4Y–2Zn–0.5Zr Alloy

Two different kinds of hot compressions,namely normal-compression and can-compression,were performed on the Mg–11 Gd–4 Y–2 Zn–0.5 Zr alloy,featured with long period stacking ordered(LPSO)phase.The kinking behavior of LPSO phase and microstructure evolution was investigated to clarify the effect of levels of imposed hydrostatic pressure.The results suggest that the LPSO phases including both the intragranular 14 H-LPSO phase and intergranular 18 R-LPSO phase suffer severe kinking behavior under higher hydrostatic pressure induced by can-compression,which is firstly characterized with more kinking times and smaller relative kinking width.The main reason for such enhanced LPSO kinking during cancompression may be mainly ascribed to the higher dislocation density under a higher level of hydrostatic pressure.Meanwhile,a competitive relationship between the kink behaviors of intergranular 18 R-LPSO phase and intragranular 14 H-LPSO phase was observed.That is,the intergranular 18 R-LPSO phase only kinks obviously on the condition that the surrounded intragranular 14 H-LPSO phase scarcely kinks.In contrast to the distinctive kinking of LPSO phase,the dynamic recrystallization(DRX)mechanism shows less dependence on the hydrostatic pressure.Resultantly,similar DRX fractions and crystallographic texture were attained for two compression processes owing to the similar operation of deformation mode.

Effect of Multi-Pass Equal Channel Angular Pressing on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Heterogeneous Mg_(88)Y_8Zn_4 Alloy

The microstructure evolutions and mechanical properties of a heterogeneous Mg88Y8Zn4（in at.%） alloy during multi-pass equal channel angular pressing（ECAP） were systematically investigated in this work.The results show that four phases,i.e.α-Mg,18 R long period stacking ordered（LPSO） phase,Mg24Y5 and Y-rich phase,are present in cast alloy.During ECAP,dynamic recrystallization（DRX） occurs and the diameter of DRXedα-Mg grains decreases to 0.8 μm.Moreover,precipitation of lamellar 14 H LPSO structure is developed withinα-Mg phase.Both the refinement of α-Mg grains and precipitation of 14 H LPSO contribute to the increase in micro-hardness from 98 HV to 135 HV for α-Mg.In addition,a simplified model describing the evolution of 18 R LPSO phase is established,which illustrates that 18 R undergoes a four-step morphological evolution with increasing strains during ECAP,i.e.original lath → bent lath → cracked lath → smaller particles.Compression test results indicate that the alloy has been markedly strengthened after multi-pass ECAP,and the main reason for the significantly enhanced mechanical properties could be ascribed to the DRXed α-Mg grains,newly precipitated 14 H lamellas,18 R kinking and refined 18 R particles.