Effect of Zn on mechanical property and corrosion property of extruded Mg-Zn-Mn alloy

The effect of Zn on the microstructure, the mechanical property and the corrosion property in simulated body fluid(SBF) of an extruded Mg-Mn alloy was studied. The results indicate that the addition of Zn element can significantly refine the grain size of the extruded Mg-Mn alloy. When Zn content is increased from 0% to 3%, the grain size decreases from 12 μm to 4 μm. Meanwhile, the mechanical properties also increase remarkably with increasing Zn content. When Zn content is 3%, the ultimate tensile strength and the yield strength are increased by 54.7 MPa and 69.7 MPa, respectively. Zn can also improve the anti-corrosion property of the alloy. The best anti-corrosion property is obtained with 1% Zn. However, further increase of Zn content up to 3% deteriorates the corrosion property. Finally, the influence mechanism of Zn on the microstructure, the mechanical property and the corrosion property was discussed.