Nano-ZnO Particles’ Effect in Improving the Mechanical Response of Mg-3Al-0.4Ce Alloy

Abstract

Magnesium based nanocomposites, due to their excellent dimensional stability and mechanical integrity, have a lot of potential to replace the existing commercial Al alloys and steels used in aerospace and automotive applications. Mg-Al alloys are commercially used in the form of AZ (magnesium-aluminum-zinc) and AM (magnesium-aluminum-manganese) series in automobile components. However, the Mg 17 Al 12 phase in Mg-Al alloys is a low melting phase which results in a poor creep and high temperature performance of the alloys. Rare earth additions modify the phase and hence improve the properties of the materials. In this paper, Ce and nano ZnO particles were added to Mg-Al alloys to attain a favorable effect on their properties. The developed materials exhibited promising properties in terms of thermal expansion coefficient (CTE), hardness, and tensile strength. Further, the ZnO addition refined the microstructure and helped in obtaining a uniform distribution, however without grain size refinement. The increased addition of ZnO and the improvement in the distribution led to an enhancement in the properties, rendering the materials suitable for a wide spectrum of engineering applications.

Enhancing Properties of Aerospace Alloy Elektron 21 Using Boron Carbide Nanoparticles as Reinforcement

“…From the microstructural analysis of secondary phases, nanoparticles, and grain sizes, the results confirm that the nanoparticles contributed to the further grain refining of the material. This is in contrary to the previously reported alloy nanocomposites, where marginal grain coarsening was observed when nanoparticles were added to magnesium-based alloys [14,21]. In previous works, it was reported that the nanoparticles, in certain magnesium matrices, alter the mechanism of dynamic recrystallization, from Zener pinning to localized particle stimulated nucleation, causing an inhomogeneity and; therefore, a bimodal grain size across the nanocomposite [14].…”

Superior ductility in magnesium alloy-based nanocomposites: the crucial role of texture induced by nanoparticles

“…However, when nanocomposites were compared to alloys in terms of the grain sizes (keeping the processing parameters the same), it is seen that the nanocomposites did not achieve as effective grain refinement as alloys, i.e., grain refinement was not possible to less than 5 lm in case of most Mg nanocomposites [11]. Such results are intriguing as the alloy nanocomposites reported previously also exhibited a similar grain coarsening compared to the alloys [15]. The reason behind this has not been discussed so far, particularly for Mg- based nanocomposites, to the authors' best knowledge.…”

Fe3O4 Nanoparticle-Reinforced Magnesium Nanocomposites Processed via Disintegrated Melt Deposition and Turning-Induced Deformation Techniques

“…An upsurge in the processing and fabrication of lightweight magnesium (Mg) and the associated alloys/nanocomposites, typically for weight-sensitive applications such as in the aerospace industry, has been observed in the recent past [1][2][3]. A number of components in the aircraft interiors, such as passenger seats, overhead compartments, folding tables and food trolleys, and transmission casings, have the potential to use magnesium [4].…”