The effects of Sr addition on microstructures and tensile properties of the as-cast and hot-extruded AZ80 alloys were studied by OM, SEM, EDS, XRD, DSC and Instron tester. The results show that the microstructures of as-cast alloys consist of α-Mg and β-Mg17Al12 phase. Sr gathers on the boundaries, and dissolves into β-Mg17Al12 phase or forms Mg17Sr2 phase. The grains of as-cast alloys are refined and discontinuous net-shaped structure is formed. The compound phases on the boundaries become thicker with increasing Sr content. The ultimate tensile stress(UTS) and elongation are improved compared with the corresponding Sr-free alloy. After preliminary hot-extruding, the UTS is up to 308?320 MPa and elongation reaches 8.0%?13.5%. After double hot-extrusion, the dynamic recrystallization completes totally, and the UTS is up to 310?355 MPa, but the elongation does not change apparently. The alloy with 0.02%Sr (mass fraction) obtains the best comprehensive performance with the UTS of 355 MPa and elongation of 13.2%. The SEM morphology of fracture surface shows that the alloys with Sr present good ductility after double hot-extrusion.
Effect of silicon on the phase selection between τ phase（Mg32（Al,Zn）49） and φ phase（Al2Mg5Zn2） in ZA84（Mg-8Zn-4Al-0.3Mn） magnesium alloy produced by steel mold cast was studied using X-ray diffractometer,scanning electron microscope and differential scanning calorimeter.The results show that with increasing Si addition in ZA84 alloy,the liquidus temperatures of the alloys and the solidification temperature ranges decrease.The ternary compound in ZA84 alloy is mainly τ phase and a little φ phase.When adding Si to ZA84 alloy,the preferential precipitation sequence of the ternary compounds changes,φ phase preferentially forms,whereas τ phase is suppressed.The solidification kinetics study of phase selection indicates that there is a critical degree of undercooling of the melt.If the undercooling exceeds the critical degree,τ phase preferentially forms while φ phase is suppressed;otherwise,φ phase preferentially forms while τ phase is suppressed.
The effect of partial substitution of Al for Cu on the glass forming ability(GFA) and mechanical properties of Mg65Cu25-xAlxGd10 (x=0, 1, 3 and 5, molar fraction, %) alloys were studied by X-ray diffractometry(XRD), differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and uniaxial compression test. The result reveals that GFA of the alloys changes slightly with increasing x from 0 to 3, and then abruptly decreases with x increasing up to 5. The plasticity can be greatly improved with appropriate substitution of Cu by Al (3%, molar fraction) in Mg65Cu25Gd10 bulk metallic glass, and the resultant fracture strength, total strain to failure, and plastic strain are 898 MPa, 2.19% and 0.2%, respectively.
The phase selection of ternary intermetallic compound τphase (Mg32(Al, Zn)49 ) and φ phase (Al2Mg5Zn2) in high zinc magnesium alloys was studied by using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer and differential scanning calorimeter, etc. The results indicate that, when adding element Si in Mg-8Zn-4Al-0.3Mn (ZA84) alloy, φ phase is promoted, whereas τ phase is inhibited. The Chinese script-type Mg2Si and matrix microstructure are greatly refined, the formation of τ phase is facilitated and φ phase is restrained when modifier Al-AlP master alloy is added in ZA84 alloy containing Si. The kinetics study of phase selection indicates that there is a critical degree of undercooling of the melt. If the undercooling exceeds the critical value, τ phase preferentially forms while φ phase is restrained; otherwise, φ phase preferentially forms while τ phase is restrained.
