Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Macro-alloying Effects of Al and Ag on the Age-Hardening Behavior and Precipitates Microstructure of a Mg-4Sn Alloy

  • Technical Article
  • Published:
JOM Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The effects of macro-alloying of Al and Ag on the age-hardening behavior and precipitates microstructure of a Mg-4Sn alloy aged at 160°C were investigated. All the alloys exhibited a similar hardening trend, and achieved the peak-aged state around 230 h. The peak-aged Mg-4Sn alloy contained several thin basal plates and a few Mg2Sn laths heterogeneously distributed within the matrix, which resulted in a poor hardening response. The Mg-4Sn-4Al alloy exhibited an improved age-hardening response by the enhanced precipitation process and an increased volume fraction of the Mg2Sn precipitates. An addition of 1.5 wt.% Ag to the ternary alloy significantly refined the Mg2Sn precipitates. In the peak-aged Mg-4Sn-4Al-1.5Ag alloy, Al and Ag solute atoms still supersaturated the α-Mg matrix, thus further improving the hardness by the solid-solution strengthening effect. Some Ag atoms segregated with the Mg2Sn precipitates, and minor Ag-enriched particles were also formed. In contrast, Al distributed more uniformly in the matrix.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. I.J. Polmear, D. St. John, J.-F. Nie, and M. Ma, Light Alloys (London: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2017).

    Google Scholar 

  2. F. Wang, J.J. Bhattacharyya, and S.R. Agnew, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 666, 114 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. B.-Y. Liu, N. Yang, J. Wang, M. Barnett, Y.-C. Xin, D. Wu, R.-L. Xin, B. Li, R.L. Narayan, J.-F. Nie, J. Li, E. Ma, and Z.-W. Shan, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 34, 1061 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. J.F. Nie, Scr. Mater. 48, 1009 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. S.H. Huang, J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 27, 3199 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. S. Behdad, L. Zhou, H.B. Henderson, M.V. Manuel, Y. Sohn, A. Agarwal, and B. Boesl, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 651, 854 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. C.L. Mendis, C.J. Bettles, M.A. Gibson, S. Gorsse, and C.R. Hutchinson, Philos. Mag. Lett. 86, 443 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. X. Huang, A. Wu, Q. Li, and W. Huang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 661, 233 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. W. Li, X. Huang, X. Li, and W. Huang, J. Alloys Compd. 766, 584 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. H. Baker and H. Okamoto, ASM Handbook Volume 3: Alloy Phase Diagrams (Cleveland: ASM International, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  11. J.B. Zhang, L.B. Tong, C. Xu, Z.H. Jiang, L.R. Cheng, S. Kamado, and H.J. Zhang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 708, 11 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Z. Li, M. Chen, W. Li, H. Zheng, C. You, D. Liu, and F. Jin, J. Alloys Compd. 702, 290 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. L.Y. Jiang, W.J. Huang, F. Guo, Y.H. Zhang, D.F. Zhang, and Q.C. Liu, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 752, 145 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. W. Li, X. Huang, and W. Huang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 692, 75 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. T.T. Sasaki, K. Oh-ishi, T. Ohkubo, and K. Hono, Scr. Mater. 55, 251 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. X. Huang, G. Han, and W. Huang, Materials 11, 628 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. X. Huang and W. Huang, J. Appl. Crystallogr. 49, 2031 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. K. Hono, C.L. Mendis, T.T. Sasaki, and K. Oh-Ishi, Scr. Mater. 63, 710 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. A.L. Bowles, H. Dieringa, C. Blawert, N. Hort, and K.U. Kainer, Mater. Sci. Forum 488–489, 135 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. X. Huang and W. Huang, Mater. Charact. 151, 260 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. X. Huang, Y. Du, W. Li, Y. Chai, and W. Huang, J. Alloys Compd. 696, 850 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. X.-F. Huang and W.-Z. Zhang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 552, 211 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Clark, Acta Metall. Mater. 16, 141 (1968).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. J. Geng, X. Gao, X.Y. Fang, and J.F. Nie, Scr. Mater. 64, 506 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. C.Q. Liu, H.W. Chen, H. Liu, X.J. Zhao, and J.F. Nie, Acta Mater. 144, 590 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. J.F. Nie, Metall. Mater. Trans. A 43A, 1 (2012).

    Google Scholar 

  27. X. Gao and J.F. Nie, Scr. Mater. 58, 619 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. E. Doernberg, A. Kozlov, and R. Schmid-Fetzer, J. Phase Equilib. Diff. 28, 523 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw, Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  30. C.L. Mendis, C.J. Bettles, M.A. Gibson, and C.R. Hutchinson, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 435–436, 163 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. C.L. Mendis, B.C. Muddle, and J.F. Nie, Philos. Mag. Lett. 86, 755 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Y.K. Kim, D.H. Kim, W.T. Kim, and D.H. Kim, Mater. Lett. 113, 50 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Z.Z. Shi and W.Z. Zhang, J. Appl. Crystallogr. 48, 1745 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. J.A. Yasi, L.G. Hector, and D.R. Trinkle, Acta Mater. 59, 5652 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51401135. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Guomin Han at the Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing, and Mr. Sufyan Naseem, Gangming Chen at Sichuan University for their constructive discussions and proofreading English expressions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Xuefei Huang

  2. Southwest Technology and Engineering Research Institute, Chongqing, 400039, China

    Shuhai Huang

Authors
  1. Xuefei Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shuhai Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xuefei Huang or Shuhai Huang.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 469 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Huang, X., Huang, S. Macro-alloying Effects of Al and Ag on the Age-Hardening Behavior and Precipitates Microstructure of a Mg-4Sn Alloy. JOM 72, 1384–1394 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03980-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03980-0

Search

Navigation