The addition of Nd significantly improves the mechanical properties of magnesium alloys. However, only limited amounts of Nd or other rare earth (RE) elements should be used due to their high price. In this study, a low-alloyed Mg–1% Zn–1% Nd (ZN11) alloy was designed and processed by hot extrusion and subsequent equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) in order to achieve a very fine-grained condition with enhanced strength. The microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties were thoroughly studied. The microstructure after 8 passes through ECAP was homogeneous and characterized by an average grain size of 1.5 µm. A large number of tiny secondary phase precipitates were identified as ordered Guinier–Preston (GP) zones. Detailed analysis of the Schmid factors revealed the effect of the texture on deformation mechanisms. ECAP processing more than doubled the achieved yield compression strength (YCS) of the ZN11 alloy. Significant strengthening by ECAP is caused by grain refinement and the formation of ordered Guinier–Preston zones and particles of a secondary γ-phase.
Two novel ignition-resistant magnesium alloys, Mg-2Gd-2Y-1Ca and Mg-2Nd-1Y-1Ca, were prepared in the ultrafine-grain condition by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). In addition, four commercial alloys—AZ31, AX41, AE42 and WE43—were prepared similarly as a reference. The microstructure, mechanical properties and ignition temperature were thoroughly investigated. Both novel alloys exhibited a mean grain size of ~1 µm and dense distribution of small secondary phase particles. The mechanical strength measured by the tensile deformation test showed that the novel alloys are much stronger (~290 MPa) than all commercial alloys except WE43. However, Ca segregation into the grain boundaries caused a significant decrease in ductility (<6%). The ignition temperature of the novel alloys (~950 °C) was considerably improved by the presence of Gd/Nd, Y and Ca. This study showed that both novel alloys exhibit high strength and high ignition temperature in the ultrafine-grain condition.
The spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique was employed to prepare compacts from (i) gas-atomized and (ii) attritor-milled AE42 magnesium powder. Short attritor-milling was used mainly to disrupt the MgO shell covering the powder particles and, in turn, to enhance consolidation during sintering. Compacts prepared by SPS from the milled powder featured finer microstructures than compacts consolidated from gas-atomized powder (i.e., without milling), regardless of the sintering temperatures in the range of 400–550 °C. Furthermore, the grain growth associated with the increase in the sintering temperature in these samples was less pronounced than in the samples prepared from gas-atomized particles. Consequently, the mechanical properties were significantly enhanced in the material made of milled powder. Apart from grain refinement, the improvements in mechanical performance were attributed to the synergic effect of the irregular shape of the milled particles and better consolidation due to effectively disrupted MgO shells, thus suppressing the crack formation and propagation during loading. These results suggest that relatively short milling of magnesium alloy powder can be effectively used to achieve superior mechanical properties during consolidation by SPS even at relatively low temperatures.
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