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Preparation and rheo-squeeze casting of semi-solid AZ91–2 wt% Ca magnesium alloy by gas bubbling process

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Abstract

In this study, semi-solid slurry of AZ91–2 wt% Ca (AZ91–2Ca) alloy was prepared by gas bubbling and shaped by rheo-squeeze casting process. The results indicate that fine semi-solid slurry of AZ91–2Ca alloy could be obtained by gas bubbling within 30 s, with primary α-Mg particles having an average diameter less than 50 μm and average shape factor higher than 0.7. With the decrease of pouring temperature from 599 to 590 °C, both tensile strength and elongation of rheo-squeeze casting AZ91–2Ca alloy first increased and then decreased. The rheo-squeeze casting AZ91–2Ca alloy sample prepared at pouring temperature of 596 °C exhibited the peak tensile strength and elongation. Compared with conventional squeeze casting, the improvement in mechanical properties of rheo-squeeze casting AZ91–2Ca alloy was mainly attributed to the grain refinement strengthening, including the refinement and spheroidization of primary α-Mg particles and the refinement in the residual melt.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by Science Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Nos. 20120073120011 and 20130073110052), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51275295), and Shanghai Yang-Fan Program (No. 14YF1402000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center of Light Alloy Net Forming and State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composite, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Zhang, Guohua Wu, Wencai Liu, Liang Zhang, Song Pang & Wenjiang Ding

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  1. Yang Zhang
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  2. Guohua Wu
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  3. Wencai Liu
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  4. Liang Zhang
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Correspondence to Guohua Wu.

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Zhang, Y., Wu, G., Liu, W. et al. Preparation and rheo-squeeze casting of semi-solid AZ91–2 wt% Ca magnesium alloy by gas bubbling process. Journal of Materials Research 30, 825–832 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2015.36

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