Microstructures and mechanical properties of extruded and aged Mg–Zn–Mn–Sn–Y alloys

Abstract

The microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg–6Zn–1Mn–4Sn and Mg–6Zn–1Mn–4Sn–0.5Y alloys under extrusion and T6 aging conditions were investigated by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile test. The results show that Y element refines the grains and improves the comprehensive mechanical properties of ZMT614–0.5Y both in as-extruded and T6 states. The phase compositions of Mg–6Zn–1Mn–4Sn–0.5Y are α-Mg, MgZn2, Mn, Mg2Sn and MgSnY phases. After T6 treatment, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) increase while the elongation decreases severely. For both of these alloys, the theoretical results combined with the experimental values demonstrate that the grain boundary strengthening and solid solution strengthening play an important role in enhancing the YS in the as-extruded state, while the precipitation strengthening is the key factor for the enhancement of YS in the T6 state.