Improving mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Mg6ZnMn magnesium alloy by rapid solidification

Abstract

The current work presents the room-temperature mechanical properties and the corrosion resistance in 3.5% NaCl solution of conventional casting and rapidly solidified Mg6ZnMn (ZM61) magnesium alloys. It is found that the mechanical properties of rapidly solidified ZM61 alloy are dramatically enhanced, with the ultimate strength increased from 335MPa to 460MPa (37% increment), which can be attributed to the formation of the refined dendrite microstructure and the strengthening MgZn2 phase distributed within the matrix. Furthermore, the rapidly solidified ZM61 alloy performs better in corrosion resistance than the extruded ZK60 and pure Mg alloys, suggesting that the rapid-solidification technique is a promising way to improve the strength and corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy for the structural and corrosive media utilization.