Recrystallization behaviour of fine-grained magnesium alloy after hot deformation

Annealing behaviors of hot-deformed magnesium alloy AZ31 were studied at temperatures from 300 to 673 K by optical and SEM/EBSD metallographic observation. Temperature dependence of the average grain size(D) is categorized into three temperature regions, i.e. an incubation period for grain growth, rapid grain coarsening, and normal grain growth. The number of fine grains per unit area, however, is reduced remarkably even in incubation period. This leads to grain coarsening taking place continuously in the whole temperature regions. In contrast, the deformation texture scarcely changes even after full annealing at high temperatures. It is concluded that the annealing processes operating in hot-deformed magnesium alloy with continuous dynamic recrystallized grain structures can be mainly controlled by grain coarsening accompanied with no texture change, that is, continuous static recrystallization.

Effects of Al-10Sr master alloys on grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy

The effects of Al-10Sr master alloys on grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy were investigated,and the refinement efficiency of different Al-10Sr master alloys(commercial,solubilized,rolled and remelted+rapidly cooled)was compared and analyzed.The results indicate that the morphology and size of Al4Sr phases in the microstructures of different Al-10Sr master alloys,are of great difference.For the commercial Al-10Sr master alloy,the Al4Sr phases evolve from coarse block shape to relatively fine block shape after being dissolved at 500 ℃ for 4 h and followed by water quenching;but after being rolled at 300 ℃ for 50% reduction or remelted and followed by rapid cooling,the Al4Sr phases mainly exhibit fine granule and fibre shapes.In addition,the different Al-10Sr master alloys can effectively reduce the grain size of AZ31 magnesium alloy,but their refinement efficiency is different.The refinement efficiency of the Al-10Sr master alloy obtained by remelting and rapid cooling is the best,then the rolled,solubilized and commercial Al-10Sr master alloys are in turn.The difference of refinement efficiency for different Al-10Sr master alloys may be related to the dissolution rates of Al4Sr phases with different morphologies and sizes in the melt of AZ31 magnesium alloy.

Correlation of recalescence with grain refinement of magnesium alloys

The grain refinement of Mg-Al based alloys with carbon inoculation was investigated by a computer-aided cooling curve analysis(CA-CCA) system.The results show that carbon inoculation decreases the main parameters of the recalescence regime during the initial stage of solidification.These parameters include the recalescence undercooling(Δθ_(rec)),duration of recalescence (t_(rec)),and liquid peak parameter(LPP) which is firstly introduced into magnesium alloys.The resultant grain size decreases with increasing nucleation temperature(θ_n) and decreasing values ofΔθ_(rec),t_(rec) and LPP.

Microstructure,Textures and Deformation Behaviors of Fine-grained Magnesium Alloy AZ31

Channel die compression and initial textures are used to activate different deformation mechanisms in a fine-grained magnesium alloy AZ31. The σ-ε curves, microstructures and, particularly, textures are analyzed to reveal different deformation mechanisms and to compare with those of coarse grained samples. Dominant double-prismatic slip, {1012} twinning and basal slip are detected in three types of samples, respectively, which is similar to those of coarse grained samples. The detrimental effect of shear band formation or {1011} twinning is limited in fine grained microstructure. In addition to the higher flow stress at low temperature an early decrease in flow stress at higher temperature is also found in fine-grained samples in comparison with their coarse-grained counterparts. This softening is ascribed to the early dynamic recrystallization or grain boundary glide.

Role of C and Fe in Grain Refinement of an AZ63B Magnesium Alloy by Al-C Master Alloy

In this study, grain refining effect of Al-1.5℃ master alloy was examined on an AZ63B magnesium alloy, and the refining mechanism was studied through investigating the role of C and Fe in this process. The results show that addition of Al-1.5℃ master alloy leads to significant decrease of the mean grain size from about 270μm to 50μm at the center of the AZ63 alloy ingot. Grain refinement by carbon addition is mainly due to the heterogeneity nucleation on the Al-, C-, O-, Fe- and Mn-rich particles, but not constitutional undercooling caused by the carbon solute element. Fe plays an important role in the formation of the nucleating particles, but not acts as an inhibiting element.

Superplastic elongation characteristic of fine grained magnesium alloy ZK60

This paper employs simple rolling process plus annealing to refine the grain size of magnesium alloy ZK60. This goal is effectively achieved, obtaining grains as fine as -3.7 um. Such a specimen shows an elongation of 642%, and its ultimate fracture surface exhibits intergranular separation and significant grain growth. Additionally, the effects of the specimen＇s geometry and tensile test axis with respect to the rolling direction on superplastic elongation is studied, which has not been done before.

Grain refinement of AZ31 magnesium alloy by Al-Ti-C-Y master alloy

Al-Ti-C-Y master alloy was prepared by combining SHS technique and melting-casting method. The microstructure of master alloy and its grain-refining effect on AZ31 alloy were investigated by means of OM, XRD, SEM and EDS. Experimental results indicated that the prepared master alloy consisted of α-Al, TiAl3, TiC and Al3Y phases, and exhibited good grain-refining performance of AZ31 alloy. Morphology of α-Mg changed from coarse dendritic to free equiaxed and the average grain size of α-Mg matrix reduced from the original 580 to 170 μm after adding 1.0 wt.% master alloy. The grain refining efficiency of Al-Ti-C-Y master alloy on AZ31 alloy was mainly attributed to heterogeneous nucleation of TiC particles and grain growth restriction of Al-Y compound or TiC at grain boundaries.

Mechanism of Grain Refinement Induced by Laser Shock Processing in AZ31 Magnesium Alloy

In order to study the mechanism of grain refinement induced by laser shock processing （LSP） in AZ31 magnesium alloy, the specimens were processed with Nd：glass pulse laser shocking and the microstructures of LSP specimens near the surface were examined by optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Optical microstructure pictures show that the size of grains formed in the top surface layer is about 4-6 μm, which is obviously different from the original grains （with an average size of 20-30 μm） in the substrate in AZ31 magnesium alloy. Transmission electron microscopic observations show that the grain refinement process of AZ31 alloy by laser shock processing includes three stages. At the early stage of LSP, the lower strain and strain rate activates the three dislocation slip systems which include basal plane system, prismatic plane system and pyramidal plane system, with the deformation governed mainly by dislocation. At the intermediary stage, dislocation slip is hindered at grain boundaries and becomes more difficult to continue during LSP. Then, parallel twins appear, which divide the original coarse grains into finer twin platelets. Finally, high-density dislocation walls are formed and subdivide twins into sub-grains. Dynamic recrystallization occurs in the process of further deformation and forms recrystallized grains when strain energy reaches the value needed by recrystallization, which leads to refinement of the grains in the top surface layer.

Grain size refinement of magnesium composite alloys by addition of B_2O_3

The high performance magnesium alloy was investigated by adding B2O3 in magnesium and magnesium alloys. Experiments include adding B2O3 in Mg, Mg-Al and Mg-RE alloys, respectively, studying the effects of B2O3 on the microstructure, were studied measuring the change of grain size and microhardness of the materials, discussing the change of grain size, morphology and distribution. The results show that adding 3% or 6%(mass fraction) B2O3 in Mg can bring twinning in Mg, adding B2O3 in Mg-Al alloys and Mg-RE alloys can refine the alloy grain size. Adding 3%B2O3 in Mg-6Al alloys can refine the average grain size by about 5μm, with the average hardness increased by 13.3% (53.3-60.4 HV0.03); adding 6%B2O3 in Mg-6Al alloys can refine the average grain size by about 13μm, with the average hardness increased by 15.8% (53.3-61.73 HV0.03); adding 3% and 6%B2O3 into Mg-6RE alloys can refine the grain size by about 5 and 9μm, respectively, with the average hardness decreased to HV0.03 64.66 and HV0.03 57.86, respectively from HV0.03 88.57. In the Mg-6Al alloy the content of aluminum is increased, while in the Mg-6RE alloy the content of oxygen is decreased. It can be concluded that it is beneficial to develop Mg-Al-B-O particle reinforce composite alloys, and it is feasible to develop nanometer crystallization of block material by Mg-B-O-RE.

Using friction stir processing to produce ultrafine-grained microstructure in AZ61 magnesium alloy

In order to obtain fine-microstructure magnesium alloys with superior mechanical properties, AZ61 alloy was processed by friction stir processing(FSP) combined with rapid heat sink. It is found that ultrafine-grained microstructure with average size less than 300 nm is observed in the resultant AZ61 alloy. The mean microhardness of the ultra-fine region reaches Hv120-130, two times higher than that of AZ61 substrate. All these results demonstrate clearly that under a cooling rate high enough, ultra-fine structure inAZ61 alloy with superior mechanical properties can be produced by one pass FSP via dynamic recrystallization.

Equal channel angular deformation process and its neuro-simulation for fine-grained magnesium alloy

Fine-grained structure of as-cast magnesium AM60 alloy was obtained by means of equal channel angular deformation（ECAD） technique. Through analyzing the relationship between the load and the displacement under different working conditions, it is demonstrated that employment of back-pressure, multi-passages of deformation, and speed of deformation are the main factors representing ECAD working condition. As for ECAD process, a network composed of nonlinear neuro-element based on error back-propagation learning algorithm is launched to set up a processing mapping module for dynamic forecasting of load summit under different working conditions. The experimental results show that back-pressure, multi-passages and deforming speed have strong correlation with ECAD processing characteristics. On the metallographs of AM60 alloy after multi-passes ECAD, a morphology that inter-metallic compound Mg17Al12 precipites on magnesium matrix without discrepancy, which evolves from coarse casting ingot microstructure, is observed. And the grains are refined significantly under accumulated severe shear strain. The study demonstrates feasibility of ECAD by using as-cast magnesium alloy directly, and launches an intelligent neuro-simulation module for quantitative analysis of its process.

REVIEW ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAGNESIUM ALLOYS

The current research and development of magnesium alloys is summarized. Several aspects of magnesium alloys are described： cast Mg alloy, wrought Mg alloy, and novel processing. The subjects are discussed individually and recommendations for further study are listed in the final section.

Friction stir welding of AZ31 magnesium alloys processed by equal channel angular pressing

Equal channel angular pressing （ECAP） is an effective thermo-mechanical process to make ultrafine grains. An investigation was carried out on the friction stir welding （FSW） of ECAPed AZ31 magnesium alloys with a thickness of 15 mm. For different process parameters, the optimum FSW conditions of ECAPed AZ31 magnesium alloys were examined. The basic characterization of weld formation and the mechanical properties of the joints were discussed. The results show that the effect of welding parameters on welding quality was evident and welding quality was sensitive to welding speed. Sound joints could be obtained when the welding speed was 37.5 mm/min and the rotation speed of the stir tool was 750 r/min. The maximum tensile strength （270 MPa） of FSW was 91% that of the base materials. The value of microhardness varied between advancing side and retreating side because of the speed field near the pin of the stir tool, which weakened the deformed stress field. The value of microhardness of the welding zone was lower than that of the base materials. The maximum value was located near the heat-affected zone （HAZ）. Remarkable ductile character was observed from the fracture morphologies of welded joints.

Effect of hot plastic deformation on microstructure and mechanical property of Mg-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy

Hot plastic deformation was conducted using a new solid die on a Mg-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy. The results of microstructural examination through OM and TEM show that the grain size is greatly refined from 45 μm to 1.1 μm with uniform distribution due to the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization. The grain refinement and high angle grain boundary formation improve the mechanical properties through tensile testing with the strain rate of 1.0×10?4 s?1 at room temperature and Vickers microhardness testing. The maximum values of tensile strength, elongation and Vickers microhardness are increased to 256.37 MPa, 17.69% and HV57.60, which are 21.36%, 133.80% and 20.50% more than those of the as-received Mg-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy, respectively. The SEM morphologies of tensile fractured surface indicate that the density and size of ductile dimples rise with accumulative strain increasing. The mechanism of microstructural evolution and the relationship between microstructure and mechanical property of Mg-Mn-Ce magnesium alloy processed by this solid die were also analyzed.

Effects of grain refinement on mechanical properties and microstructures of AZ31 alloy

Cerium was added in AZ31 alloy with the contents of 0.4%,0.8%and 1.2%respectively to produce experimental alloys. The grain refinement of Ce in the as-cast and rolled AZ31 alloy were studied by using Polyvar-MET optical microscope with a VSM2000 quantitative analysis system,KYKY2000 SEM and Tecnai G^2 20 TEM.And the mechanical properties of AZ31+Ce alloy were tested on a CSS-44100 testing system with computerized data acquisition.The results show that the cerium has a good grain refinement effect on the as-cast AZ31 alloy because cerium can build up a solute enriched zone rapidly during the solidification process.The dynamic recrystallization(DRX) grains less than 10μm can be obtained in hot rolled AZ31+Ce alloy.A cold rolling deformation degree over than 20%and a following annealing at 400℃for 1 h will lead to refine and uniform grains with the sizes of about 25μm.The cerium can form dispersed and thermally stable Al_4Ce phase that can prohibit the coarsening of grains in AZ31+Ce alloy during the hot rolling and annealing process.

Twinning during hot compression of ZK30+0.3Yb magnesium alloy

The twinning process of ZK30+0.3Yb magnesium alloy was studied. The results show that twinning occurs at the initial stage of deformation, and decreases during further deformation. The original grain is fragmented after small straining. It is investigated that the twinning boundary activates the occurrence of the non-basal slip system due to the stress concentration at the vicinity of twin boundary introduced by the dislocation pile-ups at the vicinity of twinning boundary. The rearrangement of dislocation after dislocation climb introduces new grain boundary. Simultaneously, twinning occurs to form “polygonization” due to the stress concentration relaxation, and the “polygonization” will transform into low angle boundary to refine the original grain under the shear stress with further straining.

Superplasticity Enhanced by Two-stage Deformation in a Hot-extruded AZ61 Magnesium Alloy

A two-stage strain rate deformation method is proposed to enhance the superplasticity in a hot extruded AZ61 alloy. In the stage-one of deformation, a relatively high strain rate was applied in order to obtain fine grains through dynamic recrystallization. The optimum strain rate for DRX at 300℃ was identified as -5×10-3s-1. Stage-two is conducted at relatively low strain rate in order to utilize the fine grains refined by DRX during stage-one to make the grain boundary sliding operate more smoothly, which resulting in enhanced superplastic elongation from 350% to 440%.

Kinetics of recrystallization for twin-roll casting AZ31 magnesium alloy during homogenization

The kinetics of recrystallization for twin-roll casting AZ31 magnesium alloy with different thicknesses during homogenization was analyzed.It is shown that fine grains are first formed at the boundaries of deformed bands in the twin-roll casting slab.The recrystallized grains with no strain are gradually substituted for the deformed microstructure of twin-roll casting AZ31 magnesium alloy.The incubation temperature and time for the recrystallization of a twin-roll casting AZ31 magnesium alloy strip with a thickness of 3 mm are lower and shorter than those of the 6-mm thick strip,respectively.The 3-mm thick twin-roll casting magnesium alloy has finer grains than the 6-mm thick strip.The activation energies of recrystallization for twin-roll casting AZ31 magnesium alloy slabs with the thickness of 3 and 6 mm are 88 and 69 kJ/mol,respectively.The kinetics curves of recrystallization for twin-roll casting AZ31 magnesium alloy were obtained.

High strain rate superplasticity of rolled AZ91 magnesium alloy

The high strain rate superplastic deformation properties and characteristics of a rolled AZ91 magnesium alloy at temperatures ranging from 623 to 698 K（0.67Tm-0.76Tm） and high strain rates ranging from 10^-3 to 1 s^-1 were investigated.The rolled AZ91 magnesium alloy possesses excellent superplasticity with the maximum elongation of 455% at 623 K and a strain rate of 10-3 s-1,and its strain rate sensitivity m is high up to 0.64.The dominant deformation mechanism responsible for the high strain rate superplasticity is still grain boundary sliding（GBS）,and the dislocation creep mechanism is considered as the main accommodation mechanism.

Improved Mechanical Properties in AZ31 Magnesium Alloys Induced by Impurity Reduction

Mechanical properties and microstructures of AZ31 magnesium alloys containing different impurity levels but having the same alloying element content, were investigated at ambient temperature. These AZ31 alloys were produced by semi-continuous casting, wherein the content of impurity was varied systematically. Microstructure observation shows that finer grains are existent in the alloy with lower impurity level. Tensile testing reveals that a reduction of impurity content results in a noticeable increase of the strength and elongation in the alloys in the cast, homogenized and extruded states. As the impurity content decreases from 0.0462wt% to 0.0163wt%, the ultimate tensile strength is evidently enhanced by 62 MPa and the elongation is nearly doubled in the homogenized specimen. The observed property improvement was discussed in terms of the microstructure variation with impurity reduction.