Influence of multi-cycle cryogenic treatment and tensile temperature on microstructure, mechanical properties and fracture mechanism of as-extruded Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr magnesium alloy was investigated. The results show that there have no significant changes in tensile properties of the tested alloy after 10 d in liquid nitrogen immersion or 10 cycles of high-low temperature treatment at all test temperatures. The room temperature ultimate tensile strength increases from 398 MPa to 417 MPa after 20 cycles of high-low temperature treatments. Compared with the room temperature, the tested alloys exhibit higher tensile properties at low temperatures. At -196 °C, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the as-extruded-T5 Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy are 349 MPa and 506 MPa, respectively, increasing by about 18% and 27%, respectively. The transgranular cleavage fracture mechanism is observed at room temperature, while at low temperatures both ductile fracture and cleavage fracture behaviors coexist.
The microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-4.2Zn-1.5RE-0.7Zr alloy were investigated under different heat treatment conditions. The as-cast alloy consisted ofα-Mg phase, T-phase and Mg51Zn20 phase. After aging treatment （single-step （325 °C, 10 h） and two-step （325 °C, 4 h）＋（175 °C, 14 h））, neither T-phase nor Mg51Zn20 phase dissolved into the matrix and the coarsening ofα-Mg phase was not significant. When peak-aged at 325 °C for 10 h, dense short rod-likeβ′1 phase precipitated in the matrix. Further ageing at 325 °C led to coarsening ofβ′1 phase and a decrease in number density. Alloy aged at 325 °C for 10 h achieved the highest yield strength （YS） and ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of 153.9 MPa and 247.0 MPa, which were increased by 48 MPa and 23 MPa from as-cast condition, respectively. While the elongation slightly decreased to 15.6%. Comparatively, the YS and UTS of alloy two-step aged by （325 °C, 4 h）＋（175 °C, 14 h） showed little difference from those of single-step aged alloy, but with a lower elongation of 13.4%. In addition, the fracture surfaces of Mg-4.2Zn-1.5RE-0.7Zr alloy under different thermal conditions were mainly characterized by quasi-cleavage feature, but with differences in the details.
In this study,the effect of rotating gas bubble stirring treatment on the microstructures of semi-solid AZ91-2Ca alloy was investigated.The semi-solid slurry was produced by injecting fine gas bubbles into the melt through a rotating steel diffuser during solidification,and the samples of semi-solid slurry were taken by the rapid quenching method.The results show that fine and sphericalα-Mg particles can be obtained under rotating gas bubble stirring treatment.The process parameters such as gas flow rate,cooling rate and rotation speed have significant influence on the morphology of primary solid particles.After rotating gas bubble stirring treatment,the higher the particle density,the finer and rounder the primaryα-Mg particles.The formation of numerous solid particles is due to the combination mechanisms of copious nucleation and dendrite fragmentation.
The effect of the cooling rate ranging from 1.4 °C/s to 3.5 °C/s on the solidification behavior of the sand-cast Mg?10Gd?3Y?0.4Zr alloy was studied by computer aided cooling curve analysis (CA-CCA). With the increase in cooling rate, the nucleation temperature (Tα,N) increases from 634.8 °C to 636.3 °C, the minimum temperature (Tα,Min) decreases from 631.9 °C to 630.7 °C, the nucleation undercooling (ΔTN) increases from 2.9 °C to 5.6 °C, the beginning temperature of the eutectic reaction (Teut,N) increases, the time of the eutectic reaction shortens, solidus temperature decreases from 546.0 °C to 541.4 °C, and solidification temperature range (ΔTS) increases by 6.1 °C. The increased nucleation rate (N&) is supposed to be the main reason for the increased?TN. Increased value (Teut,N?Teut,G) and shortened time of the eutectic reaction cause the change in the volume fraction and morphology of the second phase.
In this study,the microstructure evolution of semi-solid Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy during isothermal heat treatment has been investigated.The results show that primary particles coarsen continuously during the holding.Coarsening rate decreases with the increase of isothermal temperature.When isothermal temperature increases from 600℃ to 620℃,the dominant mechanism for coarsening changes from particle coalescence to Ostwald ripening.Equiaxed as-cast microstructure is beneficial to the semi-solid microstructure after isothermal heat treatment,which brings about the refinement and spheroidization of primary particles,and shortening of holding time.Significant modification of second phases can also be achieved after isothermal heat treatment,due to its unique solidification process.The optimum processing parameters for Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy in isothermal heat treatment are isothermal temperature of 610℃-620℃ and holding time of 20-40 min.
The microstructure, mechanical properties and fracture behavior of sand-cast Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy （mass fraction,%） under T6 condition （air cooling after solid solution and then aging heat treatment） were investigated. The optimum T6 heat treatments for sand-cast Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy are （525 ℃, 12 h＋225 ℃, 14 h） and （525 ℃, 12 h＋250 ℃, 12 h） according to age hardening curve and mechanical properties, respectively. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy treated by the two optimum T6 processes are 339.9 MPa, 251.6 MPa, 1.5%and 359.6 MPa, 247.3 MPa, 2.7%, respectively. The tensile fracture mode of peak-aged Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy is transgranular quasi-cleavage fracture.
