Strength and corrosion resistance of Al-alloying layer on AZ31B magnesium alloy fabricated in situ by reactive friction stir processing

Abstract

In this study, reactive friction stir processing (RFSP) was applied for AZ31B Mg alloy to improve their inferior strength and corrosion resistance. A high-Al alloying layer was successfully fabricated on rolled AZ31B plate surface through multipass RFSP reacting the additive pure Al powder (3 μm diameter) along its groove line. During RFSP, the Al powder was completely dissolved into the α-Mg matrix and reacted in situ with the α-Mg matrix to produce Mg17Al12 precipitates. With the strengthening effects by the solid solution of supersaturated Al and in situ Mg17Al12 precipitates, RFSP improved the hardness, yield strength, and ultimate tensile strength of the as-received AZ31B by 58%, 34%, and 15%, respectively. Furthermore, aging treatment was conducted after RFSP, inducing a lamellar-shaped Mg17Al12 in the RFSPed layer. The additional strengthening effect by the aging-induced Mg17Al12 resulted in further improvement in the hardness (15%, 97 Hv) and yield strength (13%, 102 MPa) compared to the RFSPed layer. However, the ultimate tensile strength deteriorated due to the too high fraction of aging-induced Mg17Al12 precipitates that caused a premature fracture. The results of the hydrogen evolution measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that RFSP and subsequent aging treatment enhanced the corrosion resistance due to the corrosion barrier effect of the in situ and aging-induced Mg17Al12.