Investigation on microstructures and properties of rapidly solidified Mg–6 wt.% Zn–5 wt.% Ca–3 wt.% Ce alloy

The Mg–6Zn–5Ca–3Ce (wt.%) alloy flakes were produced via twin-roll rapid solidification and analyzed by XRD, TEM and micro-hardness testing. The rapidly solidified Mg–6Zn–5Ca–3Ce in wt.% alloy was composed of Mg, Mg2Ca, Ca2Mg6Zn3, Mg12Ce and a small quantity of Mg51Zn20, Mg2Zn3 and MgZn2. The alloy exhibited significant age-hardening response and the maximum hardness was 162.4 ± 5.5 Hv after annealing at 200 °C for 1 h, which mainly resulted from the uniform distribution of the Ca2Mg6Zn3 precipitates within the grains according to XRD and TEM. The precipitates at the grain boundaries were identified as Mg2Ca and Mg12Ce, beneficial to the enhanced thermal stability of the alloy.