Effect of SiC particle addition on microstructure of Mg_2Si/Al composite

In the present study, by adding SiC particles into Al-Si-Mg melt, Mg2Si and SiC particles hybrid reinforced Al matrix composites were fabricated through the Mg2Si in situ synthesis in melt combined with the SiC ex situ stir casting. The as-cast microstructure containing primary Mg2Si and SiC particles that distribute homogenously in Al matrix was successfully achieved. The effects of SiC particle addition on the microstructure of Mg2Si/Al composites were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and XRD. The results show that, with increasing the fraction of the SiC particles from 5wt.% to 10wt.%, the morphologies of the primary Mg2Si particulates in the prepared samples remain polygonal, but the size of the primary phase decreases slightly. However, when the SiC particle addition reaches 15wt.%, the morphologies of the primary Mg2Si particulates change partially from polygonal to quadrangular with a decrease in size from 50 μm to 30 μm. The size of primary Al dendrites decreases with increasing fraction of the SiC particles from 0wt.% to 15wt.%. The morphology of the eutectic Mg2Si phase changes from a fi ber-form to a short fi ber-form and/or a dot-like shape with increasing fraction of the SiC particles. Furthermore, no signifi cant change in dendrite arm spacing(DAS) was observed in the presence of SiC particles.

Comparative study on high temperature deformation behavior and processing maps of Mg-4Zn-1RE-0.5Zr alloy with and without in-situ sub-micron sized TiB2 reinforcement

Mg-4Zn-1RE-0.5Zr (ZE41) Mg alloy is extensively used in the aerospace and automobile industries.In order to improve the applicability and performance,this alloy was engineered with in-situ Ti B2reinforcement to form Ti B2/ZE41 composite.The high temperature deformation behavior and manufacturability of the newly developed Ti B2/ZE41 composite and the parent ZE41 Mg alloy were studied via establishing constitutive modeling of flow stress,deformation activation energy and processing map over a temperature range of 250℃-450℃ and strain rate range of 0.001 s-1-10 s-1.The predicted flow stress behavior of both materials were found to be well consistent with the experimental values.A significant improvement in activation energy was found in Ti B2/ZE41 composite (171.54 k J/mol) as compared to the ZE41 alloy (148.15 k J/mol) due to the dispersed strengthening of in-situ Ti B2particles.The processing maps were developed via dynamic material modeling.A wider workability domain and higher peak efficiency (45%) were observed in Ti B2/ZE41 composite as compared to ZE41 alloy (41%).The Dynamic recrystallization is found to be the dominating deformation mechanism for both materials;however,particle stimulated nucleation was found to be an additional mode of deformation in Ti B2/ZE41 composite.The twinning and stress induced cracks were observed in both the materials at low temperature and high strain rate.A narrow range of instability zone is found in the present Ti B2/ZE41 composite among the existing published literature on Mg based composites.The detailed microstructural characterization was carried out in both workability and instability domains to establish the governing deformation mechanisms.

Modification effect of Yb and Na_3PO_4 on microstructure of Mg_2Si/Mg-4Si alloy and mechanism

The modification effects of ytterbium(Yb), Na_3PO_4 and Yb + Na_3PO_4 on primary Mg_2Si phase in Mg-4Si alloys were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), optical microscopy(OM), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) analysis in this work. The results indicate that the morphology of the primary Mg_2Si phase apparently changes from coarse dendrites to fine dispersive polygonal particles and the mean size decreases from 276.6 μm to 7.1 μm, with combined modification of 0.8wt.% Yb and 2.64 wt.% Na_3PO_4. Such a morphological evolution results in improvement in the ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the alloys as compared to the base alloy. This may be attributed to the formation of the YbP particles that acted as the heterogeneous nucleation substrates for the primary Mg_2Si particles, resulting in a refined distribution of these precipitates. The results of XRD examination show that there was no reaction between Si and Yb or Na_3PO_4. Solo addition of Yb or Na_3PO_4 into the melt has no real modification effect on the microstructure, but the primary Mg_2Si particles and α-Mg phases become coarser than that in the unmodified alloy.

Centrifugal casting processes of manufacturing in situ functionally gradient composite materials of Al-19Si-5Mg alloy

Cylindrical components of in situ functionally gradient composite materials of Al-19Si-5Mg alloy were manufactured by centrifugal casting. Microstructure characteristics of the manufactured components were observed and the effects of the used process factors on these characteristics were analyzed. The results of observations shows that, in thickness, the components possess microstructures accumulating lots of Mg2Si particles and a portion of primary silicon particles in the inner layer, a little MgzSi and primary silicon particles in the outer layer, and without any Mg2Si and primary silicon particle in the middle layer. The results of the analysis indicate that the rotation rate of centrifugal casting, mould temperature, and melt pouring temperature have evidently affected the accumulation of the second phase particles. Also, the higher the centrifugal rotation rate, mould temperature, and melt pouring temperature are, the more evident in the inner layer the degree of accumulation of Mg2Si and primary silicon particles is.