Optimization on microstructure,mechanical properties and damping capacities of duplex structured Mg–8Li–4Zn–1Mn alloys

Optimizing the mechanical properties and damping capacity of the duplex-structured Mg–Li–Zn–Mn alloy by tailoring the microstructure via hot extrusion was investigated.The results show that the Mg–8Li–4Zn–1Mn alloy is mainly composed ofα-Mg,β-Li,Mg–Li–Zn and Mn phases.The microstructure of the test alloy is refined owing to dynamic recrystallization(DRX)during hot extrusion.After hot extrusion,the crushed precipitates are uniformly distributed in the test alloy.The yield strength(YS),ultimate tensile strength(UTS),and elongation(EL)of as-extruded alloy reach 156 MPa,208 MPa,and 32.3%,respectively,which are much better than that of as-cast alloy.Furthermore,the as-extruded and as-cast alloys both exhibit superior damping capacities,with the damping capacity(Q^(-1))of 0.030 and 0.033 at the strain amplitude of 2×10^(-3),respectively.The mechanical properties of the test alloy can be significantly improved by hot extrusion,whereas the damping capacities have no noticeable change,which indicates that the duplex-structured Mg–Li alloys with appropriate mechanical properties and damping properties can be obtained by alloying and hot extrusion.

Effect of Zn content on microstructure,mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of extruded Mg-Zn-Ca-Mn alloys

Mg-Zn-Ca-Mn series alloys are developed as promising candidates of 5G communication devices with excellent thermal conductivities,great ductility,and acceptable strength.In present paper,Mg-x Zn-0.4Ca-0.2Mn(x=2wt%,4wt%,6wt%)alloys were prepared by a near-solidus extrusion and the effect of Zn content on mechanical and thermal properties were investigated.The results showed that the addition of minor Ca led to the formation of Ca_(2)Mg_(6)Zn_(3) eutectic phase at grain boundaries.A type of bimodal microstructure occurred in the as-extruded alloys,where elongated coarse deformed grains were embedded in refined recrystallized grains matrix.Correspondingly,both yield strength and ductility of the alloys were significantly enhanced after extrusion due to the great grain refinement.Specially,higher Zn content led to the increment in yield strength and a slight reduction in elongation due to the larger fractions of second phase particles.The room temperature thermal conductivity of as-extruded alloys was also improved compared with that of as-cast counterparts.The increment of Zn content decreased the thermal conductivity of both as-cast and as-extruded alloys,which was due to the increased second phase fraction and solution atoms in the matrix,that hindering the motion of electrons.The as-extruded Mg-2Zn-0.4Ca-0.2Mn(wt%)alloy exhibited the highest elongation of 27.7% and thermal conductivity of 139.2 W/(m·K),combined with an acceptable ultimate tensile strength of 244.0 MPa.The present paper provides scientific guidance for the preparation of lightweight materials with high ductility and high thermal conductivity.

Effect of Ce on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn-Ce magnesium alloys

The Mg-6Zn alloy with different contents of Ce was prepared by the gravity casting method,and then the Mg-6Zn-xCe(x=0,0.5,1.0,1.5,wt.%)alloys were extruded at 300℃and 350℃ after solution treatment.The phase constitution and microstructure evolution of Mg-Zn-xCe alloys were analyzed by X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS)and electron backscattering diffraction(EBSD).Meanwhile,the mechanical properties of the alloy were tested at room temperature.For as-cast alloys,the results show that the main compound in Mg-6Zn alloy is Mg4Zn7 phase,and the main compound is T-(MgZn)12Ce phase after the addition of different amounts of Ce.The microstructure and distribution of second phases are greatly improved after extrusion at 300℃and 350℃.Compared with initial mechanical properties,the strength and elongation increase obviously by means of extrusion at different temperatures.In addition,the microstructure after extrusion at 350℃is further analyzed according to EBSD data.The results show that rare earth element Ce probably promotes the activation of non-basal slip during the deformation process with the increase of Ce,which reduces the strength of basal texture and thus improves the plasticity of the alloy.Meanwhile,the increase of grain boundary migration ability leads to the gradual increase of recrystallization grain size and decreases the strength.

Effect of extrusion speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of the Mg-Ca binary alloy

This work reported the effect of extrusion speeds on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-Ca binary alloy.The results showed that yield strength of the as-extruded Mg-1.2wt.%Ca alloys decrease from∼360MPa to∼258MPa as the ram speed increases from 0.4mm/s to 2.4 mm/s,and the elongation increases from∼3.9%to∼12.2%.The microstructure changes from bimodal grain feature to the complete dynamical recrystallization(DRX)with increase of the extrusion speed.The ultrafine DRXed grains in size of∼0.85μm,the numerous nano-Mg_(2)Ca particles dispersing along the grain boundaries and interiors,as well as the high density of residual dislocations,should account for the high strength.It is believed that the high degree of dynamic recrystallization and the resulting texture randomization play the critical roles in the ductility enhancement of the high-speed extruded Mg alloys.

Comparisons of microstructure homogeneity,texture and mechanical properties of AZ80 magnesium alloy fabricated by annular channel angular extrusion and backward extrusion

This paper provided an efficient single pass severe plastic deformation(SPD)method,annular channel angular extrusion(ACAE),for fabricating AZ80 magnesium alloy shell part.The effect of ACAE process on the microstructure homogeneity,texture,and mechanical properties of extruded part was experimentally investigated.For comparison,conventional backward extrusion(BE)was also conducted on processing AZ80 part with same specification.The results showed that ACAE process has a better capacity to refine the microstructure and dramatic improve the deformation homogeneity of the extruded part than BE process.Due to two strong shear deformations were implemented,ACAE process could also concurrently modify the basal texture more notably than BE process.In particular,a bimodal texture was found in ACAE extruded part,which was greatly related to the enhanced synergetic action of basal slip and secondary<c+a>slip caused by the effective shear stress.More uniform and superior hardness along the thickness and height of part were achieved via ACAE process.Further surveying of tensile tests also showed that the part fabricated by ACAE process exhibited significantly higher and far more homogeneous tensile properties with an excellent balance of strength and ductility.The remarkable enhanced tensile properties of ACAE extruded part could be primarily attributed to the significant grain refinement,which provided a powerful grain boundary strengthening effect and meaningfully suppressed the development of twin-sized cracks during tensile deformation.It was established that ACAE process seemed to be a very promising single pass SPD method for manufacturing Mg-based alloy shell parts with more homogeneous microstructure and superior performance.

Influence of extrusion conditions on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-2Gd-0.3Zr magnesium alloy

In general,different extrusion conditions will affect the microstructure of magnesium alloys and further determine the mechanical properties.The effects of extrusion parameters and heat treatment processes such as extrusion speed,pre-forging,annealing time,extrusion ratio and cooling rate on the microstructure,texture evolution and tensile properties of Mg-2Gd-0.3Zr alloys were investigated in this study.Compared with the as-cast alloy,the extrusion process significantly refines the grains and exhibit the rare earth texture.With the increase of extrusion speed and annealing time,the growth of recrystallized grains is accelerated,leading to the increase of elongation.Large pre-forging deformation achieves to refine the grains by promoting recrystallization nucleation,resulting in increased strength of Mg-2Gd-0.3Zr alloy.Decreasing the extrusion ratio or increasing the cooling rate will introduce coarse un-DRXed grains,which transformed the texture into the basal texture.In particular,the effect of rapid cooling on refining the recrystallized grains is also obvious.Different extrusion conditions influence the mechanical properties of the Mg-2Gd-0.3Zr alloy through the grain size,proportion of non-recrystallization region and texture type.

Novel Mg-Bi-Mn wrought alloys:The effects of extrusion temperature and Mn addition on their microstructures and mechanical properties

Designing and developing the Mg alloys with low cost and high performance is of the great significance.Novel Mg-1Bi-xMn(x=0,1and 2 wt.%)extruded alloys,in this work,were fabricated at different extrusion temperatures(220,250 and 300℃).The effects of extrusion temperature and Mn addition on the microstructures and mechanical properties of extruded alloys at room temperature were investigated.The results showed that decreasing the extrusion temperature could refine the average grain size,weaken the basal fiber texture intensity and improve the microstructural homogeneity of extruded alloys.When the Mn element was added to the Mg-1Bi alloy,the average grain size further reduced.Simultaneously,the number fraction of low angle grain boundaries(LAGBs)increased,along with the occurrence of regions without dynamic recrystallization(unDRX).The combined effects of grain refinement and coarse unDRXed structure made the textures of the extruded Mg-1Bi-xMn alloys never obviously change.Besides few large size un-dissolved second phases,fine Mg_(3)Bi_(2) and α-Mn phases were precipitated in the extruded Mg-1Bi-xMn alloys and partial nano-scaleα-Mn particles pined at grain boundaries(GBs)to effectively impede the migration of GBs for grain refinement.Microstructural variations determined the extruded Mg-1Bi-2Mn alloy to exhibit the highest yield strength of~319.2 MPa with the appropriate elongation-to-failure of~13%at the extrusion temperature of 220℃,and they enabled the extruded Mg-1Bi-1Mn alloy to show the highest elongation-to-failure of~26%without the obvious loss of yield strength of~252.1 MPa.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of AA6063 aluminum alloy wire fabricated by friction stir back extrusion(FSBE) process

In the present work,the friction stir back extrusion(FSBE)process was used as a novel method for the fabrication of AA6063 aluminum alloy wire.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),tensile and hardness tests were performed.The FSBE via the rotational speed of 475 r/min resulted in fine equiaxed grains,and the mean grain size decreased from 179.0μm to 15.5μm due to the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization(DRX).Heat generated by the FSBE changed the size and volume fraction of the Mg2Si precipitated particles.The minimum particle size and maximum volume fraction obtained in the sample were processed by rotational speeds of 475 and 600 r/min,respectively.The 475-r/min sample had the maximum hardness value due to having the lowest grain size(i.e.,15.5μm)and the presence of many fine Mg2Si precipitates in the aluminum matrix.With increasing rotational speed up to 600 r/min,the hardness decreased,owing to the growth of both grains and precipitates.The FSBE process with a rotational speed of 475 r/min increased the tensile strength(from 150 to 209 MPa)and ductility(from 21.0%to 30.2%)simultaneously.

Effect of extrusion ratio on microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91D magnesium alloy recycled from scraps by hot extrusion

A method for recycling AZ91D magnesium alloy scraps directly by hot extrusion was studied.Various microstructural analyses were performed using the techniques of optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS).Microstructural observations revealed that all the recycled specimens consisted of fine grains due to the dynamic recrystallization.The main strengthening mechanism of the recycled specimen was grain refinement strengthening and homogeneous distribution of oxide precipitates.The interfaces of individual scraps of extruded materials were not identified when the scraps were extruded with the extrusion ratio of 40-1.Oxidation layers of the scraps were broken into pieces by high compressive and shear forces under the extrusion ratio of 40-1.The ultimate tensile strength and elongation to failure increased with increasing the extrusion ratio.Recycled specimens with the extrusion ratio of 40:1 showed higher ultimate tensile strength of 342.61 MPa and higher elongation to failure of 11.32%,compared with those of the cast specimen.

Effect of hot extrusion on microstructure and mechanical properties of quasicrystal-reinforced Mg-Zn-Yalloy

The microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast and as-extruded Mg-Zn-Y alloy （Mg-11%Zn-0.9%Y, mass fraction） containing Mg3YZn6 quasicrystal were studied. The eutectic icosahedral quasicrystal phase （I-phase） is broken and almost distributes along the extrusion direction, and fine I-phase with nano-size is precipitated during the extrusion. The α-Mg matrix grains are refined due to recrystallization occuring during the hot extrusion. Some {1012} twins are observed in the extruded ZW1101 alloy. And {0002}〈1010〉 fiber texture is formed in matrix alloys after hot extrusion. The extruded alloy exhibits high strength in combination with large elongation at room temperature. The strengthening mechanism of the as-extruded alloy was discussed.

Effect of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-2.5Zn-0.5Y alloy

The microstructure and mechanical properties of extruded Mg-2.5Zn-0.5Y alloy before and after annealing treatments were investigated. The as-extruded alloy exhibits a yield tensile strength （YTS） of 305.9 MPa and an ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of 354.8 MPa, whereas the elongation is only 4%. After annealing, the YTS and UTS decrease to 150 MPa and 240 MPa, respectively, and the elongation increases to 28%. Interestingly, the annealed alloy maintains an acceptable stress level even after a much higher ductility is achieved. These excellent mechanical properties stem from the combined effects of fine α-Mg dynamic recrystallization （DRX） grains and a homogeneously distributed icosahedral quasicrystalline phase （I-phase） in the α-Mg DRX grains. In particular, the superior ductility originates from the coherent interface of I-phase and α-Mg and from the formation of the secondary twin {101 1}-{101 2}（38°〈1 2 10〉） in the tension twin {1012}.

Effects of Nd/Gd value on the microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-Gd-Y-Nd-Zr alloys

Four Mg–Gd–Y–Nd–Zr alloys were prepared by mold casting to investigate the effects of Nd/Gd ratios on microstructures and mechanical properties.The as-cast alloys mainly consist ofα-Mg andβ-Mg5(GdYNd).Volume fractions of the second phase increase and grains were slightly refined with the rising Nd/Gd ratio,when the alloying addition is equal.Meanwhile,fibers of second phase also increase in the extruded alloys when the Nd/Gd value increases.However,the Nd/Gd ratio could hardly influence the mechanical properties of the extruded alloys.The aging hardening response of the extruded alloy differs due to different Nd/Gd ratios.The potential mechanisms have also been discussed in detail.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of the micrograined hypoeutectic Zn–Mg alloy

A biodegradable Zn alloy, Zn-1.6Mg, with the potential medical applications as a promising coating material for steel components was studied in this work. The alloy was prepared by three different procedures： gravity casting, hot extrusion, and a combination of rapid solidification and hot extrusion. The samples prepared were characterized by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis. Vickers hardness, tensile, and compressive tests were performed to determine the samples＇ mechanical properties. Structural examination reveals that the average grain sizes of samples prepared by gravity casting, hot extrusion, and rapid solidification followed by hot extrusion are 35.0, 9.7, and 2.1 μm, respectively. The micrograined sample with the finest grain size exhibits the highest hardness（Hv = 122 MPa）, compressive yield strength（382 MPa）, tensile yield strength（332 MPa）, ultimate tensile strength（370 MPa）, and elongation（9%）. This sample also demonstrates the lowest work hardening in tension and temporary softening in compression among the prepared samples. The mechanical behavior of the samples is discussed in relation to the structural characteristics, Hall-Petch relationship, and deformation mechanisms in fine-grained hexagonal-close-packed metals.

Effects of Sn addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of extruded Mg-Bi binary alloy

We investigated the effects of Sn addition on the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of an extruded Mg-Bi binary alloy by comparing Mg-5 Bi(B5)and Mg-5 Bi-4 Sn(BT54).Both the extruded alloys exhibit a partially recrystallized grain structure with a strong extrusion fiber texture and numerous Mg3Bi2 precipitates.However,the addition of Sn significantly decreases the average grain size of the extruded alloy from 123.9 to 75.2μm.The Sn solute atoms inhibit the activity of dislocation slip,which reduces the internal strain energy accumulated in the dynamically recrystallized(DRXed)grains during extrusion.Consequently,this reduced strain energy leads to the decrease in the DRXed grain size owing to weakened grain growth during natural air-cooling.The extruded BT54 alloy exhibits higher tensile strength and ductility than the extruded B5 alloy.The improvement in the strength by the Sn addition is attributed to the combined effects of grain refinement,Sn solute atoms,and increased dislocation density.The formation of{10-11}and{10-11}-{10-12}twins during tension is suppressed by the grain refinement,thereby improving the tensile elongation considerably.

Effect of pre-annealing treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of extruded Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy bars

Taking extruded Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy(7A04 alloy) bars as the research object, the effect and mechanism of pre-annealing treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the aged alloy bars were investigated. The results show that a pre-annealing treatment at 350°C for 15 h before a T6 treatment substantially reduced the sensitivity of the microstructure and mechanical properties of the extruded 7A04 aluminum alloy specimens toward the extrusion temperature. The average grain sizes of the specimens extruded at 390 and 430°C after T6 treatment were 3.4 and 8.1 μm, respectively, and their elongations to failure were 7.0% and 9.2%, respectively. However, after pre-annealing + T6 treatment, the differences in both the grain sizes and the elongations of the specimens became small, i.e., their average grain sizes were 3.2 and 3.8 μm and their elongations were 12.0% and 13.3%, respectively. For the specimens extruded at the same temperature, pre-annealing treatment obviously improved the plasticity of the alloy, which is attributed to an increase in soft texture or to grain refinement in the specimens as a result of the pre-annealing + T6 treatment.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of high speed indirect-extruded Mg-5Sn-(1,2,4 )Zn alloys

The microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of high speed indirect-extruded Mg-5%Sn-(1, 2, 4) Zn(mass fraction, %) alloys were investigated by optical microscopy(OM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), differential thermal analysis(DTA) and a static tension tester. All the studied alloys can be extruded successfully at a high speed of 10 m/min. The grain size, area fraction of particles and tensile properties are found to be greatly affected by the extrusion speed and Zn content, resulting in tensile properties showing lower strength and ductility as the extrusion speed increases and Zn content decreases. The dependence of grain size and tensile properties on the second phase particles is also discussed.

Influence of impurities on microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 magnesium alloy

The influence of impurity content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 magnesium alloys was investigated by optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy and tensile test.ZK60 alloys were prepared by changing holding time of alloy melt during semi-continuous casting in order to control the content of impurity elements.The alloy with lower purity content is found to have less second precipitates and larger grain size in the as-cast state.However,in the as-extruded state,reducing impurities brings about a decrease in grain size and an increase in yield strength from 244 MPa to 268 MPa,while the elongations in the as-extruded alloys with different contents of impurities are almost the same.After T5 treatment,impurity content is found to have more obvious effect on the yield strength of ZK60 alloy.The yield strength of ZK60-45 alloys with low impurity content is increased up to 295 MPa after T5 treatment.

Microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-Ce-Zn-Zr wrought alloy

Microstructures and mechanical properties of （Mg-2.0%Ce-0.7%Zn-0.7%Zr） alloy were studied. The results of scanning electron microscopy show that Mg12Ce phase mainly distributes at the grain boundaries. The fine (Mg12Ce) phase can apparently elevate recrystallization temperature by preventing the grain boundary migration. No dynamic recrystallization occurs during the hot-extrusion. The mechanical properties of as extruded specimens are （σb=278.5 MPa,） δ=12.0%, while those of the specimens annealed at 250 ℃ for 100 h are σb=（272.6 MPa,） δ=（11.3%,） which indicate that the alloy has good mechanical properties at room temperature.

Effects of cerium on microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 alloy

ZK60-xcerium alloys were studied,where x mass fraction is 0, 0.52%, 0.94%, 1.51% and 1.98%, respectively. Influence of Ce contents and heat-treatment on microstructure and tensile properties was analyzed. The results show that cast ZK60 alloy containing no Ce has coarse crystal grains, and lots of segregation aggregates around the grain-boundary. However, the alloys containing Ce have refined grains, and grain-boundaries are purified at the same time. Obvious dynamic recrystallization occurs in tested alloys after hot-extrusion. Tensile strength heightens with the increase of Ce content, and grows higher after aging at 150℃ for 024 h （T5 treatment）. Comparing tensile properties of investigated alloys in different states, it can be concluded that synthetical properties of the alloy with 1.51% Ce addition is the best of all. In extruded state, σb and δ of this alloy are 318.6 MPa and 14.4%, respectively. After aging for 24 h ,σb is 338.6 MPa and δ is 15.6%.

Effect of extrusion process on microstructure and mechanical and corrosion properties of biodegradable Mg-5Zn-1.5Y magnesium alloy

The effect of extrusion temperature and ratio on the microstructure, hardness, compression, and corrosion behavior of Mg-5Zn-1.5Y alloy were analyzed in this study. The microstructural observations revealed that the cast alloy consists of α-Mg grains, and Mg3Zn6Y and Mg3Zn3Y2 intermetallic compounds, mostly located on the α-Mg grain boundaries. Extruded alloy at higher temperatures showed coarser grain microstructures, whereas those extruded at higher ratios contained finer ones, although more dynamic recrystalized grains with lower intermetallics were measured at both conditions. Combined conditions of the lower temperature (340°C) and higher ratio (1:11.5) provided higher compressive strengths. However, no significant hardness improvement was achieved. The extrusion process could decrease the corrosion rate of the cast alloy in simulated body fluid for over 80% due to primarily the refined microstructure. The extrusion temperature showed a more pronounced effect on corrosion resistance compared to the extrusion ratio, and the higher the extrusion temperature, the higher the corrosion resistance.