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Effects of extrusion ratio and annealing treatment on the mechanical properties and microstructure of a Mg–11Gd–4.5Y–1Nd–1.5Zn–0.5Zr (wt%) alloy

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Abstract

This study investigates the effects of the extrusion ratio and annealing treatment on the microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of an as-extruded Mg–11Gd–4.5Y–1Nd–1.5Zn–0.5Zr (wt%) alloy. A high extrusion ratio (30:1) results in a homogeneous microstructure with fine dynamic recrystallized (DRXed) grains, while a low extrusion ratio (6:1) leads to a bimodal microstructure with un-DRXed regions and DRXed grains. The bimodal microstructure can be removed by subsequent annealing. This alloy contains several long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) and Mg5RE phases (RE: rare earth). The extrusion ratio and annealing process have negligible effects on the volume fraction of the LPSO phase but have significant effects on the Mg5RE phase. The volume fraction of the Mg5RE phase decreases as the extrusion ratio and annealing time increase. Cuboid precipitates form in the alloy extruded at low extrusion ratios after annealing. The alloy exhibits a bimodal texture with <0001> and <\( 10\overline{1} 0 \)> components. The presence of the <0001> component is determined by a critical grain size. The texture evolution (such as the degree of grain growth) is not influenced by the extrusion ratio, but it is affected by the annealing time, which is related to the Mg5RE phase rather than the LPSO phase. The grain refinement, the Mg5RE and LPSO phases, and the texture contribute to the alloy strengthening. Finally, a high-strength extruded Mg bar with a diameter of 32 mm (an extrusion ratio of 6:1) was successfully produced.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms. Yuling Xu for her assistance with the data analysis. This work is supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program (2012BAE01B04, 2012DFH50100, KGFZD-125-13-021, 201001C0104669453). Zijian Yu would like to thank the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the German Academic Exchange Service (CAS-DAAD) scholarship programme for their financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, People’s Republic of China

    Zijian Yu & Jian Meng

  2. Institute of Materials Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Max-Planck-Str. 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany

    Yuanding Huang, Weimin Gan & Norbert Hort

  3. Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Zhengye Zhong

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  1. Zijian Yu
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Correspondence to Jian Meng.

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Yu, Z., Huang, Y., Gan, W. et al. Effects of extrusion ratio and annealing treatment on the mechanical properties and microstructure of a Mg–11Gd–4.5Y–1Nd–1.5Zn–0.5Zr (wt%) alloy. J Mater Sci 52, 6670–6686 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0902-3

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