Effects of Ca and Nd addition on plastic instability in extruded Mg-Mn alloy deformed under various conditions

Plastic instability, called Portevin-Le-Chatelier(PLC) effect, manifests itself as an unstable plastic flow during tensile tests of structural materials. This phenomenon has a strong influence on diverse properties, leading to unexpected vulnerabilities in the service environment.Among various magnesium-based alloys, PLC phenomenon is most prominently observed in the Mg-Mn-Nd alloy under elevated temperature and low strain rate conditions. An important aim of the study is to clarify and compare the significance of the RE and Ca addition, which are known to cause a formation of a largely weakened non-basal type texture, in the occurrence of plastic instability. Due to the PLC phenomenon, there is a risk of weakening texture and formability improvement by the addition of RE and Ca elements in Mg alloys. Based on the understanding of the role of Nd to the PLC phenomenon in Mg-Mn alloy identified in previous studies, the PLC characteristics according to alloying elements and deformation conditions were compared and analyzed. To identify the micromechanical mechanisms of the PLC phenomenon, varies in the microstructure and mechanical properties during deformation of Mg-Mn binary and Ca or Nd-containing Mg-Mn-based ternary alloys in various conditions were systemically analyzed. The addition of Ca did not show a marked PLC effect due to the formation of low number density Mn-Ca and Ca-Ca solute clusters and an unbalanced Mn:Ca ratio. In contrast, the addition of Nd leads to the formation of a higher number density of Nd-Nd and Mn-Nd solute clusters than that of Ca-Ca and Mn-Ca solute clusters of the Mg-Mn-Ca alloy, resulting in a stable solute-dislocation interaction atmosphere under specific ranges of deformation temperature and strain rate. The deformation in the regime of PLC phenomenon, results in a decrease in ductility and an increase in strength, despite deformation at elevated temperatures with maintaining the weakened texture.

Plastic instability and texture modification in extruded Mg-Mn-Nd alloy

Even though Mg alloys containing Mn and rare earth elements lead to higher ductility and lower yield asymmetry due to the weak texture after extrusion, plastic instability, commonly known as the Portevin–Le Chatelier(PLC) effect, causes unexpected fragility in the service environment. In the present study, the PLC phenomenon and texture development during the deformation of Mg-Mn and Mg-Mn-Nd extruded alloys were investigated under various temperatures and strain rates. The addition of Nd causes not only texture weakening but also severe PLC phenomenon. The PLC phenomenon was significantly affected by the temperatures and the strain rates, which causes a difference in mechanical properties and development of texture. In the conditions of high temperature and low strain rate, the strength increased while the elongation decreased significantly, and obvious PLC phenomenon with severe serration and negative strain rate sensitivity. The initial texture was maintained even after deformation only under severe PLC conditions, and this is due to the restriction of basal slip and suppression of lattice rotation in PLC conditions. The series of results indicate that the PLC phenomenon causes a reduction of formability even at high temperature.

Solute drag-controlled grain growth in magnesium investigated by quasi in-situ orientation mapping and level-set simulations

Critical properties of metallic materials,such as the yield stress,corrosion resistance and ductility depend on the microstructure and its grain size and size distribution.Solute atoms that favorably segregate to grain boundaries produce a pinning atmosphere that exerts a drag pressure on the boundary motion,which strongly affects the grain growth behavior during annealing.In the current work,the characteristics of grain growth in an annealed Mg-1 wt.%Mn-1 wt.%Nd magnesium alloy were investigated by advanced experimental and modeling techniques.Systematic quasi in-situ orientation mappings with a scanning electron microscope were performed to track the evolution of local and global microstructural characteristics as a function of annealing time.Solute segregation at targeted grain boundaries was measured using three-dimensional atom probe tomography.Level-set computer simulations were carried with different setups of driving forces to explore their contribution to the microstructure development with and without solute drag.The results showed that the favorable growth advantage for some grains leading to a transient stage of abnormal grain growth is controlled by several drivers with varying importance at different stages of annealing.For longer annealing times,residual dislocation density gradients between large and smaller grains are no longer important,which leads to microstructure stability due to predominant solute drag.Local fluctuations in residual dislocation energy and solute concentration near grain boundaries cause different boundary segments to migrate at different rates,which affects the average growth rate of large grains and their evolved shape.