Abstract
Forming magnesium alloys with rare earth elements (La, Gd, Nd, Y, Ce) is a routine method for modifying their microstructure and properties. In the present work, the effect of Ce addition on the microstructure evolution and the mechanical properties of as-extruded Mg-8Al-0.5Zn (AZ80) alloy was investigated. All of the extruded AZ80-xCe (x = 0, 0.2, 0.8 and 1.4 wt %) alloys exhibited equiaxed grains formed by fully dynamic recrystallization, and the grain size of the extruded AZ80 alloy was remarkably reduced by ~56.7% with the addition of 1.4 wt % Ce. Furthermore, the bulk-shaped Al4Ce phase formed when Ce was first added, with the Ce content rising to 0.8 wt % or higher, and Al4Ce particles in both the nano- and micron sizees were well distributed in the primary α-Mg matrix. The area fraction of the Al4Ce particles expanded with increasing Ce content, providing more nuclei for dynamic recrystallization, which could contribute to the grain refinement. The results of the tensile tests in this study showed that Ce addition effectively improved the room temperature formability of the as-extruded AZ80 alloy, without sacrificing strength. The significantly improved mechanical properties were ascribed to excellent grain refinement, weakened texture strength, an increased Schmid factor, and a reduced area fraction of low-angle grain boundaries, all resulting from Ce addition to the as-extruded AZ80 alloy. The contribution of the nano-Al4Ce precipitates on improving the mechanical properties was also discussed in this paper.
Highlights
Reducing vehicle weight is an important strategy for boosting fuel economy and depressing carbon dioxide emissions
With the addition of Ce, a bulk-shaped Al4 Ce phase below 10 μm appeared, and a small number of Al4 Ce particles were distributed along the ED for the AZ80-0.2Ce alloy
Higher, Al4 Ce particles in both nano- and micron sizes were well dispersed in the α-Mg matrix
Summary
Reducing vehicle weight is an important strategy for boosting fuel economy and depressing carbon dioxide emissions. The sizes of the DRXed grains became larger, because the fine Mg2 Sn particles reduced, due to the consumption of Sn by the formation of the Ce3 Sn5 phase All of these contributed to a decrease in the tensile strength, and an increase in the elongation. Little attention is paid on the effect of Ce addition on the wrought AZ80 alloy, in spite of the fact that Ce is extensively utilized to modify the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of Mg alloys containing Al and Zn elements. In this work, 0.2–1.4 wt % Ce was added into Mg-8Al-0.5Zn (AZ80) alloy to investigate the effect of Ce addition on the microstructural evolution and tensile properties of the as-extruded.
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