Regulating microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-cast Mg-4Zn-0.5Y-0.5Nd alloy by heat treatment

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The Mg-4Zn-0.5Y-0.5Nd alloy was designed and fabricated by conventional casting with subsequent heat treatment to regulate the microstructure and mechanical properties. The microstructure, secondary phase, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior were analyzed to elucidate the influencing mechanism. The results reveal that the as-cast alloy is composed of equiaxed grains with large sizes and discontinuously distributed secondary phases. Moreover, the secondary phase is mainly W-Mg3Zn3Y2, which partly forms the eutectic structure. The solid solution treatment coarsens the equiaxed grains and transforms the secondary phase into near continuous distribution. The Mg41Nd5 phase appears and volume fraction of secondary phase decreases a little. The combining of solid solution and aging treatment increases grain size and volume fraction of secondary phase more or less. Furthermore, the Mg24Y5 phase appears and secondary phases have been changed into semi-continuous distribution. After heat treatment, the average grain size reaches its maximum value of 107.18 μm, and the volume fraction of secondary phase climbs up to 2.73 %. Moreover, the solid solution treatment weakens the crystallographic orientation preference along {0001} but induces diversified crystallographic orientation preference. The heat treatment increases microhardness from 57.2 HV0.1 of the as-cast state to 70.5 HV0.1 of the heat-treated state. Comparatively, the solid solution treatment decreases mechanical properties, while the solid solution and aging treatment increase strength and ductility simultaneously. Especially for the ductility, it has been improved by more than 80 %, which is beneficial to the subsequent thermalmechanical processing greatly.