An ultra-high strength and high ductility Mg-8.2Gd-3.8Y-1.0Zn-0.4Zr Mg alloy sheet was fabricated by vertical direct chill casting, extrusion, hot rolling and peak-ageing treatment. The peak-aged ...sheet shows tensile yield strength of 416MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 505MPa and superior elongation to failure of 12.8% at ambient temperature. The remarkable improvement of strength is ascribed to the fine β′ phase precipitated within the grains, grains with strong basal texture and the dispersed long period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases located at the grain boundaries.
► Mg–8.2Gd–3.8Y–1Zn–0.4Zr alloy was severely hot rolled with total 96% reduction and aged. ► The sheet exhibits ultra-high strength of 517MPa with elongation to failure of 4.5%. ► Dense nano β′ phase ...play a key role in the age hardening of the sheet. ► The deformed grains with a strong basal texture and LPSO phase strengthen the alloy. ► The recrystallized grains with weak texture improve ductility.
Ultra high-strength Mg–8.2Gd–3.8Y–1.0Zn–0.4Zr alloy sheet was prepared by large-strain hot rolling and subsequent ageing process. The sheet exhibits excellent tensile properties at ambient temperature with ultimate tensile strength of 517MPa, 0.2% proof stress of 426MPa and elongation to failure of 4.5%. The notable improvement in strength is attributed to the dense distribution of the fine precipitates inside the grains, scattered precipitates at the grain boundaries, bimodal grain size distribution with fine recrystallized grains and large deformed grains with intense basal texture.
Inhomogeneous plastic deformation and recrystallization behavior of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy containing only intragranular lamellar long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phase were investigated by ...isothermal compression experiments at the temperatures of 350–450 °C, and the strain rates of 0.001 ∼ 10 s−1. Results showed that Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloys with varying degrees of bimodal structures were obtained after compression. The lamellar LPSO phase directions in residual coarse grains were aligned in the radial direction (RD). Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) grains induced at grain boundaries, kinked bands, and lamellar shearing regions during compression synergistically promoted coarse grain refinement. Moreover, the condition of high temperature and medium strain rate (450 °C-0.1 s−1) contributed to the uniform extension of "mantle layers" of fine DRX grains. In contrast, the condition of medium temperature and high strain rate (400 °C-10 s−1) could accelerate the deflection of CD-directed (compression direction) LPSO lamellae and the formation of local high-energy regions, facilitating the generation of recrystallization band. In addition, a high strain rate (400 °C-10 s−1) is more conducive to the formation of a heavily bimodal structure than a high temperature (450 °C-0.1 s−1). Only a larger spacing of LPSO lamellae (∼1.4 μm) could meet the spatial requirements of recrystallization. Further analysis revealed that the continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) mechanism characterized by the expansion of "mantle layers" and nucleation along kinked boundaries and lamellar shearing regions was the primary grain refinement mechanism. The discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) mechanism only exhibited a limited role due to the inhibition of the highly dense lamellar LPSO phase on grain boundaries bulging. After compression, the orientation of residual coarse grains gradually deviated toward the CD. While the recrystallization with limited proportion and random orientation cannot significantly weaken the basal texture.
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•Highly densely packed LPSO-phase lamellae were constructed through homogenization treatment.•The DRX behavior affected by the exclusively lamellar LPSO-phase was revealed.•Increasing the strain rate was more conducive to fostering recrystallization than raising the temperature.•A bimodal structure was obtained due to the local microstructural refinement caused by partial recrystallization.•The CDRX mechanism, rather than the DDRX mechanism, dominated the compression process.
Regarding the as-cast Mg-9.5Gd-4Y-2.2Zn-0.5Zr alloy, the effect of heat treatment on its properties at room temperature (RT), as well as the mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of ...various peak-aging samples at different tensile temperatures were discussed in this article. The results indicated that the optimal heat treatment process of the alloy was: 520 °C × 24 h + 200 °C × 112 h. Under this condition, the yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation (EL) at RT were: 238 MPa, 327 MPa and 2.5 %, respectively. As the tensile temperature increases, the strength increases firstly and then decreases, but the ductility increases monotonously. The microstructures evolution of 200 °C peak-aging (200PA) and 250 °C peak-aging (250PA) samples were different with the increasing tensile tenperature. When tensile test processed at 150°C, the dense β' phase and rod-shaped basal γ' phase will be formed in the 200PA sample. However, at 300 °C, the β' phases disappeared. The β' and LPSO phases in the 250PA sample coarsened gradually as the tensile temperature increased, and 14H-LPSO phases were formed during tensile at 300 °C. The 200PA sample reached the highest strength when tensile at 150 °C, which was attributed to the hindrance of the basal dislocation and non-basal dislocation slip by the prismatic β' phases and the newly formed basal γ' precipitates.
The effects of heat treatment before extrusion on the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior, texture, and mechanical properties of the extruded Mg-9.8Gd-3.5Y-2.0Zn-0.4Zr (wt. %) alloy were ...comparatively investigated in this work. A large number of dendritic microstructures in as-homogenized alloy and intergranular block-shaped LPSO phases in as-aged alloy were found to promote the operation of particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN) and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) mechanisms, which further accelerate growth of dynamic recrystallized grains due to the lack of solute drag and dynamic precipitation. Also, we determined the nucleation of dynamic recrystallization affects little to the formation of abnormal texture, whereas the shear stress results from the flow velocity gradient and the pyramidal-2 slip during the growth of the dynamic recrystallized grains leading the formation of abnormal texture. However, the solution treatment before extrusion could effectively eliminate the dendritic microstructures and increase the solid solubility of the matrix, which would facilitate the occurrence of continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) and dynamic precipitation during the hot extrusion process. Meanwhile, CDRX and dynamic precipitation co-contribute to the formation of a bimodal microstructure that composed of coarse deformed grains with basal orientation and fine dynamic recrystallized grains with random orientation. The observed bimodal microstructure, fine dynamic precipitations, strong fiber texture, and substructure thus well explained the improved strength and elongation of samples extruded with the solution treated materials.
•Hot deformation behavior of as-extruded Mg–Gd–Y–Zn–Zr alloy was studied.•The hot deformation behavior was studied by processing maps.•The optimum parameters for hot working of the tested alloy were ...obtained.•Three components were successfully prepared according to the determined hot deformation parameters.
The hot deformation characteristics of as-extruded Mg–Gd–Y–Zn–Zr alloy have been investigated by isothermal compression tests in the temperature range of 300–500°C and strain rate range of 0.001–1s−1. Several modeling approaches, including flow stress–strain curves, a constitutive Arrhenius type equation model and processing map were used to characterize the deformation behavior of as-extruded Mg–Gd–Y–Zn–Zr alloy in this study. In addition, isothermal precision forging of the component with complex shape was carried out to evaluate the optimum parameters for hot working of the alloy at elevated temperatures. The results show that the deformation activation energy of the experimental alloy was estimated to be 240.477kJ/mol, and the stress exponent was 3.899. The optimum parameters for hot working of the as-extruded Mg–Gd–Y–Zn–Zr alloy were deformation temperatures of 380–450°C and strain rates of 0.003–0.02s−1. According to the determined hot deformation parameters, three components were successfully prepared, and its possessed excellent surface quality, the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the component were 378MPa, 283MPa and 11.5%, respectively.
The multi-directional forging process can achieve large plastic deformation, and has great application prospects in industrial production. The Mg-9.55Gd-3.28Y-1.77Zn-0.34Zr (wt%) alloy containing ...LPSO phase was deformed in different passes and then quenched immediately by the multi-directional forging process with decreasing temperature, and the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy were analyzed. It is found that as the number of deformation passes increases, the coarse grains decrease, and the dynamic recrystallization fraction increases. The dynamic recrystallization grains swallow the original grains, promote the continuous refinement of the grains, and greatly improve the uniformity of the microstructure. At the same time, the maximum texture intensity of the (0001) basal plane is significantly reduced, and the pole figure distribution is more dispersed, which is attributed to the random orientation of dynamic recrystallization. Due to the refinement of the microstructure and the weakening of the texture, the tensile strength and yield strength at room temperature increase significantly. After 3 passes of deformation, the alloy has the highest mechanical properties, with tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation reaching 317 MPa, 233 MPa, and 15%, respectively.
Different cooling processes, such as quenching in warm water and cooling in furnace, were introduced to homogenize Mg–8.2Gd–3.8Y–1.0Zn–0.4Zr (wt%) alloy. Microstructure evolution and mechanical ...properties of the homogenized alloy were investigated. The as-quenched sample was comprised of α-Mg matrix, Mg5RE phase and 18R LPSO phase distributed at the grain boundaries and a few of RE-rich particles distributed randomly. During the process of cooling in furnace, Mg5RE and 18R LPSO phases were transformed into block-shaped 14H LPSO phase and lamellar-shaped 14H LPSO phase, respectively, due to the diffusion of solute atoms into the α-Mg matrix. Furthermore, the lamellar-shaped 14H LPSO phase grew and ran through the whole grains. The as-quenched sample exhibits tensile yield strength of 130MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 206MPa and elongation to failure of 5.5%, while the sample cooled in the furnace exhibits higher tensile yield strength but lower ultimate tensile strength and ductility due to the coarse grains and formation of block-shaped 14H LPSO phase.
Heterogeneous bimodal microstructure and its formation mechanism of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy during isothermal compression at 450 °C and 0.001 s−1 was investigated in detail. Based on microstructure ...analysis, Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloys with bimodal grain size distribution and bimodal texture distribution were obtained by uniaxial isothermal compression. There were more heavily bimodal levels in grain size and texture at true strain greater than 0.8. There was a significant inhomogeneous plastic deformation between and within the grains in Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy during the deformation, which is attributed to the difference the grain orientation and a large number of intergranular block-shaped LPSO phases. Further studies revealed that particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN) caused by a large intergranular LPSO phases and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) developed layer by layer toward the grain interior were the main grain refinement mechanisms. This PSN and CDRX mechanism contributed to the fine grains in bimodal grain size distribution and the random texture in bimodal texture distribution. However, the original coarse grains with basal orientation were preserved during deformation due to smaller plastic deformation and energy storage. Meanwhile, grain boundary segregation and intragranular lamellar LPSO precipitate promoted CDRX by retarding DDRX. In addition, the grain boundary pinning effect dominated by grain boundary segregation and intragranular lamellar LPSO precipitate hindered the coarsening of fine DRXed grains, which was the ultimate guarantee for the formation of bimodal microstructure. Ultimately, inhomogeneous plastic deformation, DRX, and grain boundary pinning effect were demonstrated as the necessary conditions for the formation of heterogeneous bimodal microstructure during thermal deformation of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy.
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•The inhomogeneous plastic deformation is a prerequisite for the formation of heterogeneous bimodal microstructure.•The PSN and CDRX are directly contributing to the heterogeneous bimodal microstructure.•Grain boundary pinning promotes heterogeneous bimodal microstructure by inhibiting coarsening of DRXed grains.
► Solution treated Mg–8.2Gd–3.8Y–1.0Zn–0.4Zr alloy was aged at 200°C and 225°C, respectively. ► The precipitation sequence is supersaturated solid solution (SSSS)→β′′ (D019)→β′ (bco). ► SF and 14H ...LPSO phase formed in the alloy over-aged at 200°C and 225°C, respectively. ► Equilibrium β phase and precipitate free zone (PFZ) formed at the grain boundaries.
Ageing treatment at 200°C and 225°C for various periods of time was introduced to the Mg–8.2Gd–3.8Y–1.0Zn–0.4Zr (wt.%) alloy, the age-hardening behaviour and phase transformation were analysed systematically. The alloy aged at 225°C exhibits accelerated ageing progress compared with that aged at 200°C. The precipitation sequences of the alloy aged at both 200°C and 225°C are supersaturated solid solution (SSSS)→β′′ (D019)→β′ (bco). Stacking faults and 14H LPSO phase formed in the alloy over-aged at 200°C and 225°C, respectively. The equilibrium β phase precipitated at the grain boundaries with the formation of precipitate free zone (PFZ) at the peak-aged stage, after further ageing treatment, the β phase got coarsened, which was accompanied with the widening of the PFZ.
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