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Solidification Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cast Magnesium-Aluminum-Tin Alloys

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Abstract

The solidification microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg-Al-Sn alloys have been investigated using computational thermodynamics and experiments. The as-cast microstructure of Mg-Al-Sn alloys consists of α-Mg, Mg17Al12, and Mg2Sn phases. The amount of Mg17Al12 and Mg2Sn phases formed increases with increasing Al and Sn content and shows good agreement between the experimental results and the Scheil solidification calculations. Generally, the yield strength of as-cast alloys increases with Al and Sn content, whereas the ductility decreases. This study has confirmed an early development of Mg-7Al-2Sn alloy for structural applications and has led to a promising new Mg-7Al-5Sn alloy with significantly improved strength and ductility comparable with commercial AZ91 alloy.

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out as a collaborative research project supported by General Motors Global Research and Development (GM R&D), Warren, MI, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, China. Dr. Chuan Zhang of CompuTherm (Madison, WI), Dr. Anil Sachdev of GM R&D, Professors Xiaoqin Zeng and Wenjiang Ding of SJTU are gratefully acknowledged for technical discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Motors Research & Development Center, Warren, MI, 48093, USA

    Alan A. Luo (GM Technical Fellow)

  2. National Engineering Research Center of Light Alloy Net Forming and State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composite, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, P.R. China

    Penghuai Fu (Assistant Researcher), Liming Peng (Professor), Xiaoyu Kang (Undergraduate Student), Zhenzhen Li (Undergraduate Student) & Tianyu Zhu (Undergraduate Student)

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  1. Alan A. Luo
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  2. Penghuai Fu
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  3. Liming Peng
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  4. Xiaoyu Kang
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  5. Zhenzhen Li
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  6. Tianyu Zhu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Penghuai Fu.

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Manuscript submitted December 21, 2010.

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Luo, A.A., Fu, P., Peng, L. et al. Solidification Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cast Magnesium-Aluminum-Tin Alloys. Metall Mater Trans A 43, 360–368 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-011-0820-y

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