Effect of extrusion temperatures on the microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties of Mg–5Sn–1Si–0.6Ca alloy

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of extrusion temperatures (250 °C, 300 °C and 350 °C) on the microstructure, second phases particle, texture, and mechanical properties of the Mg–5Sn–1Si–0.6Ca alloy were discussed. The results show that after extrusion the second phases in the alloy were broken and distributed along the grain boundary. Decreasing the extrusion temperature is beneficial to dynamic precipitation and grain refinement. During the extrusion process, a large number of Mg2Sn nanoprecipitates are dynamically precipitated from the Mg matrix and their number increased and their size decreased with the decrease of extrusion temperature. The grain size was refined from 5.8 μm to 3.328 μm with the extrusion temperature decreasing from 350 °C to 250 °C. Besides, the texture intensity was also reduced with the decrease in extrusion temperature. The strength and plasticity of the Mg–Sn–Si–Ca alloys are simultaneously improved by the method of “solid solution + low-temperature extrusion”. When the extrusion temperature is 250 °C, the alloy obtains superior engineering mechanical properties with the yield strength of 287 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 343 MPa and elongation to failure of 23.3%. The high strength is mainly attributed to the combined effect of grain size, weak texture, and high density of precipitation. The good ductility is mainly attributed to the grain refinement and high Schmid factors of basal slip.