Influence of flux containing YCl3 additions on purifying effectiveness and properties of Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr alloy

In order to improve the purifying efficiency of RJ6 flux, 5 wt.% YCl3 additions were introduced into the flux to refine Mg–10Gd–3Y–0.5Zr (GW103K) alloy. The results show that the RJ6 flux containing 5 wt.% YCl3 additions exhibits excellent adsorption ability to nonmetallic inclusions. Thermodynamic analysis indicates that the main reason could be attributed to the decrease of the surface tension of the flux. Moreover, the mechanical, corrosion and fluidity properties of the alloy were investigated. It was found that these properties were improved to a certain degree due to the removal of nonmetallic inclusions in the alloy.