Effect of sintering temperature on microstructures and mechanical properties of ZK60 magnesium alloys

Abstract

In this study, ZK60 Mg alloys were prepared via hot-press sintering under a constant pressure of 30 MPa as well as Ar atmosphere. The sintering temperature was determined to be in the range of 450–600 °C with an interval of 50 °C. The effect of sintering temperature on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the alloys was investigated. All the four sintered alloys mainly exhibited an α-Mg-phase structure and equiaxed grain microstructure. However, a specific amount of melt, enriched in Zn element, formed when the sintering temperature reached 500 °C. Thus, only the alloy sintered at 450 °C maintained the nominal composition of the alloy powder, and exhibited the favorable yield strength and hardness, which was 135.1 MPa and 57 HV, respectively. The alloys sintered at 550 °C and 600 °C exhibited a reduced yield strength and hardness due to the loss of Zn element.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 alloy prepared using spark plasma sintering

“…In addition, Figure 4(a2)–(c2) shows that the powder particle boundary of the alloy sintered at 450°C (indicated using arrows) was thicker than that of the alloys sintered at 350°C and 400°C, which was consistent with the result shown in OM images. Combined withour previous research [18], the thickening of the particle boundary was considered to be related to the formation of the eutectic phase. When the ZK60 alloy was prepared by the hot-press sintering, it was found that the eutectic phase was extruded from the matrix to the edge of mould when the ZK60 alloy was prepared by the hot-press sintering.…”

Effect of extrusion temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of hot-extruded ZK60 magnesium alloy

“…The speed of ball milling was 200 rpm, and the holding time was 2 h. Then the mixture was sintered using a ZT(Y) series vacuum hot pressing furnace under a constant pressure of 45 MPa. The sintering temperature was determined to be 450 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C•min −1 [5]. The diameter and height of the sintered alloy were 58 mm and 46 mm, respectively.…”

“…As the lightest structural alloys, magnesium (Mg) alloys are widely used in automotive and aerospace fields due to their high specific strength and specific stiffness [1][2][3]. As one of the most typically Mg alloys, ZK60 (Mg-6.0 wt.%Zn) alloy attracted widespread attention due to its considerable performance potential [4][5][6][7][8][9]. However, the limited room temperature strength and plasticity, as well as the typical tension-compression asymmetry greatly restricted its applications in industrial fields [4,[10][11][12].…”

“…However, the limited room temperature strength and plasticity, as well as the typical tension-compression asymmetry greatly restricted its applications in industrial fields [4,[10][11][12]. Therefore, the thermal deformation processes, such as rolling, extrusion, and equal channel angular processing were generally used to improve its mechanical properties [5,[13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Experimental and optimization study of powder metallurgy process parameters of magnesium base AZ31 alloy using taguchi method

“…Durai et al [15] studied the sintering temperature influence on the properties of Mg-Zr alloy.The hardness and strength were augmented by raising the temperature of the sintering. Ma et al [16], investigated the influence of the time of sintering upon the properties of neat Mg. The hardness augmented, and the wear rate reduced upon raising the sintering time.…”