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Li 2008
Li 2008
Abstract
Samples with different diameters for Mg–Zn–Ca alloys were fabricated by copper mold casting method. The microstructure, amorphous nature
and mechanical properties of as-cast samples were investigated by SEM, XRD and compressive tests. The results show that amorphous alloys or
amorphous matrix composites can be formed in the composition of 1–6 at.% Ca for the samples with 2, 3 or 4 mm in diameters. During which the
highest strength up to 828 MPa and plastic deformation of 1.28% were obtained for Mg68 Zn28 Ca4 alloy with a monolithic amorphous structure. The
best composition range defined both by strength and plastic deformation should be 3–5 at.% Ca for Mg72−x Zn28 Cax (x = 0–6) alloys. At least over
400 MPa of fracture strength was obtained for the samples with an amorphous matrix, indicating that Mg–Zn–Ca alloys can be good candidates
for amorphous matrix composites fabrication. In order to further consider the amorphous matrix effect on mechanical properties, Mg95−x Znx Ca5
(x = 15–33) alloys were investigated by the same methods. Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloy with no obviously amorphous structure exhibits a lower yielding
strength of 307 MPa but it shows excellent plastic strain over 3.5%. We suggest that the amorphous matrix can enhance both the yielding strength
and fracture strength of magnesium alloys.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Mg–Zn–Ca alloys; Amorphous matrix effect; Glass forming ability; Mechanical properties
0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2007.10.027
302 Q.-F. Li et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 487 (2008) 301–308
Table 1
Summary of previously published mechanical properties (fracture stress σ f and
plastic strain εp ) of Mg-based BMGs, obtained in conventional compression
tests
Alloy composition (at.%) Sample σ f (MPa) εp (%) Reference
diameter
(mm)
2. Experimental
Table 2
Summary of previously published mechanical properties (fracture stress σ f , plastic strain εp and specific strength σ f /ρ) of Mg-based BMG matrix composites,
obtained in conventional compression tests
Alloy composition (at.%) Cast sample diameter (mm) σ f (MPa) εp (%) σ f /ρ × 105 /(N m kg−1 ) Reference
diameters of 2, 3 and 4 mm, respectively, were obtained by injec- the as-cast rods by polishing the loading surfaces which were
tion of the melting liquid into corresponding cavities of copper to be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the loading
moulds. The cross sectional surfaces of the as-cast samples were axis. Uniaxial compression tests for at least five samples of
analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) using a Rigaku D/max each alloy investigated were conducted using an Instron-type
2400 diffractometer with monochromated Cu K␣ radiation. The machine at a constant strain rate of 1 × 10−4 s−1 . A MoS2 lubri-
microstructures of some as-cast samples were examined via cant was used to reduce friction between testing samples and the
scanning electron microscopy (SEM). platen of the machine. The strain was determined after correct-
Compression test samples having diameters of 2 and 3 mm ing some starting points due to the lubricant compliance at the
and lengths of 4 and 6 mm, respectively, were prepared from beginning.
Fig. 2. SEM images of as-cast (a) Mg71 Zn28 Ca1 , (b) Mg70 Zn28 Ca2 , (c) Mg69 Zn28 Ca3 , (d) Mg68 Zn28 Ca4 , (f) Mg67 Zn28 Ca5 and (e) Mg66 Zn28 Ca6 alloys with 3 mm
in diameter. The inset in each image is XRD pattern for the corresponding alloy.
304 Q.-F. Li et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 487 (2008) 301–308
3. Experimental results
3.3. Mg–Zn–Ca amorphous matrix composites can get amorphous matrix composites (AMC). Therefore, alloys
Mg70 Zn25 Ca5 , Mg75 Zn20 Ca5 and Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 with 3 mm in
From the microstructure shown in Fig. 1, we detected some diameter were prepared. The microstructures of those alloys
crystalline flakes characterized of Mg or Mg–Zn solid solu- are shown in Fig. 5(a)–(c), respectively. Fig. 5(a) shows the
tion distributed in amorphous matrix. We considered that the snow flower like crystalline phase imbedded in the amorphous
ductile Mg flakes can act as reinforcement to increase the duc- matrix. From XRD pattern shown in the inset, these flower
tility of Mg–Zn–Ca BMGs. We will show in the next section crystallites are mainly Mg and MgZn intermetallic phases.
that at least those Mg flakes are not harmful to the fracture While for Mg75 Zn20 Ca5 as-cast sample, dendritic structure is
strength. This indicates that for those alloy compositions, we homogeneously distributed in the amorphous matrix (Fig. 5(b)).
This is a typical Mg–Zn–Ca BMG matrix composite, while
the microstructure for Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloy exhibits dendritic
structure as shown in Fig. 5(c). However, no obviously broad
diffraction peak typical of amorphous structure can be seen from
the XRD pattern shown in the inset. This indicates that the as-cast
Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloy with 3 mm in diameter is almost composed
of crystalline phases.
Table 3
Summary of mechanical properties (fracture stress σ f , yield strength σ y and
plastic strain εp ) of Mg–Zn–Ca alloys investigated
Mg72 Zn28 2 70 70 0 C
2 441 441 0 CA
Mg71 Zn28 Ca1
3 416 416 0 CA
2 442 442 0 CA
Mg70 Zn28 Ca2
3 400 400 0 CA
2 591 675 0.5 C
Mg69 Zn28 Ca3
3 550 650 0.3 CA
2 611 828 1.28 C
Mg68 Zn28 Ca4
3 540 671 0.43 C
2 662 622 0.2 C
Mg67 Zn28 Ca5
3 535 535 0 CA
2 496 496 0 CA
Mg66 Zn28 Ca6
3 411 411 0 CA
Mg62 Zn35 Ca3 2 564 564 0 CA
Mg63 Zn33 Ca4 2 582 582 0 CA
Mg66 Zn30 Ca4 2 590 590 0 CA
2 620 642 0.4 CA
Mg70 Zn25 Ca5
3 506 506 0 CA
Mg75 Zn20 Ca5 3 420 510 1.33 CA
Fig. 5. SEM images of the as-cast (a) Mg70 Zn25 Ca5 , (b) Mg75 Zn20 Ca5 and (c) Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 3 307 513 3.58 CA
Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloys with 3 mm in diameter. The inset in each image is XRD
pattern for the corresponding alloy. C: crystalline, A: amorphous, CA: crystalline + amorphous.
306 Q.-F. Li et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 487 (2008) 301–308
Fig. 6. Compressive stress–strain curves of the as-cast (a) Mg68 Zn28 Ca4 and Fig. 7. Fracture strength of the as-cast Mg72 − x Zn28 Cax (x = 0–6) alloys with 2
(b) Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloys with 2 and 3 mm in diameters, respectively. and 3 mm in diameters, respectively.
plastic strain reaching 1.28%, which is the highest plastic strain ing, the fracture strength for the sample with 2 mm in diameter
found up to date compared with single-phase Mg-based BMGs is larger than that of with 3 mm (Fig. 7). But the difference is not
as indicated in Table 1. The largest plastic strain found up to now quite large even for those who are not totally in amorphous state
in single Mg57 Cu31 Y6.6 Nd5.4 BMGs [14] is 1.2% for a sample compared with lanthanide-containing Mg-based BMGs when
with only 1 mm in diameter. Furthermore when Mg68 Zn28 Ca4 sample dimension changes [15]. This suggests that the crys-
yields at 611 MPa, it exhibits work hardening behaviors after a talline phases in amorphous matrix cannot severely damage the
yielding step (shown in Fig. 6(a)) and then plastic deformation fracture strength of Mg–Zn–Ca alloys, which is exhibited by
and work hardening behavior until fracture. Generally speak- as-cast Mg69 Zn28 Ca3 alloy. The strength and plastic are almost
Fig. 8. Fracture surfaces of the as-cast (a) Mg70 Zn28 Ca2 , (b) Mg68 Zn28 Ca4 and (c) Mg66 Zn28 Ca6 and (d) Mg66 Zn30 Ca4 alloys with 2 mm in diameter.
Q.-F. Li et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 487 (2008) 301–308 307
unaffected whether it is a single amorphous alloy or an amor- surfaces for the Mg72−x Zn28 Cax alloys that content 3–5 at.%
phous matrix composite. The typical stress–strain curves are Ca (Fig. 8(b)). While when Ca increases to 6 at.%, the fracture
shown in Fig. 6. It can be found that the fracture strength for shows less venous patterns (Fig. 8(c)). The evolution of the frac-
Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 is over 500 MPa and the plastic strain is as high as ture surface according to the Ca content indicates that both the
3.58% for the sample with 3 mm in diameter (Fig. 6(b)). While GFA and the mechanical properties change, which is consistent
for Mg70 Zn25 Ca5 and Mg75 Zn20 Ca5 alloys, the strengths are with our previous discussion. The alloys with more than 30 at.%
comparable to that of Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloy, but the yield strength Zn, however, they are generally brittle with a flat surface typ-
for the latter is much lower than the former (Table 3). This gives ical of other brittle Mg-based BMGs (Fig. 8(d)). The fracture
us an idea that amorphous phase can effectively enhance the surface for Mg70 Zn25 Ca5 with 2 mm in diameter also exhibits
yield strength of Mg–Zn–Ca alloys. venous patterns (Fig. 9(a)). However a cleavage area can be
seen in the right low part of the fracture surface. This maybe
3.5. Fracture surface observations attributes the mechanically brittle as the results of the alkaline-
earth metals nature and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal
Typical fracture surfaces for the samples with 2 mm in diam- structure of magnesium. Mg70 Zn25 Ca5 alloy also shows 0.4%
eter are seen in Fig. 8. When the Ca content in Mg72−x Zn28 Cax plastic strain. The remarkable plastic deformation was observed
alloys is not larger than 2 at.%, a mixed surface characteris- for Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloy with a larger sample size of 3 mm in
tic of both amorphous and crystalline structure (Fig. 8(a)) was diameter and its fracture surface does not exhibit any amorphous
observed which is corresponding to its compressive properties, feature (Fig. 9(b)) but typical of a crystalline material fracture
therefore no plastic deformation occurred for it. Venous pat- surface, which is corresponding to the XRD analysis.
terns typical of metallic glasses were observed on the fracture
4. Discussion
Fig. 10. Schematic ternary diagram (in Mg corner, redraw according to the
liquidus projection of Mg–Zn–Ca ternary diagram [25]) shown the compositions
Fig. 9. Fracture morphologies for as-cast (a) Mg70 Zn25 Ca5 and (b) and isothermal. Wherein the solid and the open circles showing our work and
Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 with 2 and 3 mm in diameter, respectively. Gu’s work [23], respectively.
308 Q.-F. Li et al. / Materials Science and Engineering A 487 (2008) 301–308
sample with E1 composition is quite brittle. The microstruc- defined both by strength and plastic deformation should be
ture, GFA and the mechanical behavior of Mg72−x Zn28 Cax 3–5 at.% Ca for Mg72−x Zn28 Cax (x = 0–6) and lower than
(x = 1–6) alloys are critically determined by the amount of Ca 30 at.% Zn for Mg95−x Znx Ca5 (x = 15–33) alloys, respectively.
addition. Furthermore, the amorphous matrix can enhance both Mg80 Zn15 Ca5 alloy exhibits excellent plastic deformation and
the fracture strength and yield strength of Mg alloys. This fracture strength.
indicates that Mg–Zn–Ca alloys are good candidates for amor-
phous matrix composites fabrication. From Table 3 we find that Acknowledgement
except binary Mg–Zn alloy, the fracture strength at least over
400 MPa was obtained for the alloys investigated if they con- This work was partly supported by Natural Science Funds of
tains amorphous phase. While strength over 600 MPa was only Liaoning Province under contract number of 052379, China.
obtained for the alloys with 3–5 at.% Ca, 20–30 at.% Zn and
lower than 75 at.% Mg. These alloys are obviously within the References
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