Elucidation of the corrosion rate enhancement mechanism in Mg–Er–Gd–Ni alloys with high volume fraction of LPSO phase and different Gd contents after extrusion

Abstract

The microstructure evolution and corrosion mechanism of Mg–9Er–xGd–2Ni alloys, subjected to Gd addition and extrusion, were investigated in this study. Results shows that with the increase in Gd content from 1.0 wt.% to 5.0 wt.%, the second phase change from continuous network LPSO phase with intragranular γʹ phase to a monolithic continuous network LPSO phase, while the corresponding volume fraction of the second phase remains essentially unchanged. Moreover, it is noted that increasing Gd content contributed to a reduction in the corrosion rate of alloy by reducing galvanic corrosion couples and facilitating the formation of double Gd2O3 and Er2O3 corrosion-resistant films. Ultimately, what's most noteworthy is that compared with as-cast alloys, the corrosion rate of as-extruded alloys increased by 49.2%–125.3% with increasing Gd content, which is due to the streamlined LPSO phase distribution weakening the corrosion barrier effect of high-volume fraction network distribution LPSO phase alloy and grain refinement providing more corrosion interfaces that inhibited the formation of corrosion-resistant product films. This study provides new provides new insights for the development of highly degradable Mg–Er–Gd–Ni alloys that have high strength potential for applications in unconventional oil and gas extraction.