Achieving ultra-high strength in Mg-Gd-Ag-Zr wrought alloy via bimodal-grained structure and enhanced precipitation

摘要

Mg-13.1 Gd-1.6 Ag-0.4 Zr(wt%)alloy was either iso-thermally extruded at 350℃ or differentialthermally extruded with respectively pre-heated billet at 500℃ and die at 350℃.The iso-thermal extrusion leads to a near fully recrystallized structure and a[0001]//ED(extrusion direction)texture.In contrast,the differential-thermally extruded alloy develops a bimodal-grained structure composed of fine equiaxed recrystallized grains and coarse elongated unrecrystallized grains with a0110//ED texture.The differential-thermally extruded alloy has a higher number density of precipitates after postextrusion ageing than that of the iso-thermally extruded counterpart.Moreover,precipitation in the differential-thermally extruded alloy is further enhanced with cold rolling before ageing.Finally,the alloy obtains room temperature tensile yield strength of 421 MPa and ultimate tensile strength of 515 MPa via differential-thermal extrusion,cold rolling and ageing,mainly ascribed to the coupled strengthening from the bimodal-grained structure and enhanced precipitation.Strength of the alloy is noticeably higher than those of Mg-Gd(-Y)-Ag extruded alloys with similar compositions reported previously and is comparable to those of other high-strength Mg wrought alloys.The findings suggest that differentialthermal extrusion plus strain ageing is a suitable approach for achieving high strength in age-hardenable Mg alloys.