Effect of Al Content on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-Sn-Ca Alloy

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2020.00086

Acta Metall Sin

2020, Vol. 56

Issue (10): 1423-1432 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2020.00086

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Effect of Al Content on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-Sn-Ca Alloy

WU Huajian¹, CHENG Renshan¹, LI Jingren¹, XIE Dongsheng¹, SONG Kai², PAN Hucheng¹(

), QIN Gaowu¹

1 Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
2 Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu 610213, China

Cite this article:

WU Huajian, CHENG Renshan, LI Jingren, XIE Dongsheng, SONG Kai, PAN Hucheng, QIN Gaowu. Effect of Al Content on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-Sn-Ca Alloy. Acta Metall Sin, 2020, 56(10): 1423-1432.

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Abstract

There is considerable demand for high-performance, low-cost, and rare-earth-free magnesium alloys in several industrial applications because of their energy conservation potential. However, the mechanical properties of the currently available rare-earth-free magnesium alloys cannot satisfy the industrial requirements. Therefore, a novel rare-earth-free magnesium alloy with high strength, excellent ductility, and good formability must be urgently developed. In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl (x=2, 4, and 9, mass fraction, %) alloys in the as-cast and extruded states when different amounts of Al content are added are systematically studied. As indicated by the results, the strength and elongation of the alloy decrease and increase, respectively, with the increasing Al content. The yield strengths of the Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-2Al, Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-4Al, and Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-9Al alloys are approximately 370, 325, and 290 MPa, respectively, and their elongations are approximately 6.2%, 11.0%, and 12.0%, respectively. The type and content of the nanosecond phase of the Mg-Sn-Ca-based alloy changed because of the addition of the fourth type of Al element. High-density G.P. zones and a second phase of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ can be observed in the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-2Al and Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-9Al alloys, respectively; however, nanophase precipitation cannot be observed in case of the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-4Al alloy. The high-density G.P. zones hinder the growth of the recrystallized grains more efficiently than the Mg₁₇Al₁₂ nanophase; thus, the recrystallized grains of the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-2Al alloys are finer (approximately 0.5 μm) than the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-9Al alloy. Based on TEM images, high-density dislocations can be observed inside the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-2Al alloy grains and G.P. zones can be observed toward the side of the dislocations; thus, the high density subgrain lamella structure is retained in the alloy (lamella thickness: 0.2~1.0 μm). The movement of the newly generated dislocations is inhibited by the large number of G.P. zones and residual dislocations, increasing the yield strength and decreasing the plasticity of the Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-2Al alloy. The Mg₁₇Al₁₂ nanophase that was formed in the Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-9Al alloy because of the addition of high Al content exhibits a weak ability to hinder the movement of the dislocations, resulting in low-density residual dislocation. Therefore, the Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-9Al alloy, exhibits a large grain size, low yield strength and high plasticity.

Key words: Mg alloy grain refinement second phase dynamic recrystallization strength

Received: 19 March 2020

ZTFLH:

TG146.22

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(51525101);National Natural Science Foundation of China(U1610253);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51971053);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China(N2002011);China Association for Science and Technology Youth Talent Support Projcet(2019-2021QNRC001);China Association for Science and Technology Youth Talent Support Projcet(2019-2021QNRC002);Xingliao Talent Program(XLYC1808038);Liaoning Province-Shenyang National Research Center for Materials Science Joint Fund Project(2019JH3/30100040)

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	Huajian WU
	Renshan CHENG
	Jingren LI
	Dongsheng XIE
	Kai SONG
	Hucheng PAN
	Gaowu QIN

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2020.00086 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2020/V56/I10/1423

Table 1 Actual compositions of Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys

Fig.1 Engineering stress-strain tensile curves of extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys

Table 2 Mechanical properties of Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys

Fig.2 OM (a, c, e) and SEM (b, d, f) images of as-cast Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys with x=2 (a, b), x=4 (c, d) and x=9 (e, f)

Table 3 EDS results of positions 1~6 in Fig.2

Fig.3 XRD spectra of as-cast Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys

Fig.4 OM (a, c, e) and TEM (b, d, f) images of the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys with x=2 (a, b), x=4 (c, d) and x=9 (e, f), and (0002) pole figures (insets in Figs.4a, c and e) measured by XRD (ED—extrusion direction, TD—transverse direction, RD—rolling direction, DRX—dynamic recrystallization)
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Fig.5 SEM images of extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloys with x=2 (a), x=4 (b) and x=9 (c)

Table 4 EDS results of positions 1~6 in Fig.5

Fig.6 TEM images showing the microstructures of the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-xAl alloy with x=2 (a~c), x=4 (d~f) and x=9 (g~i) (The red asterisks in the figure show the low-angular grain boundaries. The blue arrows show the G.P. zones, the red arrows show the dislocations, and the purple arrows show the nano-scaled Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phases)
Color online

Fig.7 TEM images of the extruded Mg-2.5Sn-2Ca-2Al alloy with the G.P. zones and residual dislocations (a, b) (The blue arrows show the G.P. zones, and the red arrows show the dislocations)
Color online

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