Corrosion and mechanical properties of hot-extruded AZ31 magnesium alloys

AZ31 magnesium alloys were hot-extruded at 573 K and 623 K with extrusion ratio (λ) of 20, 35 and 50. The corrosion and mechanical behavior of hot-extruded AZ31 were studied by galvanic tests and tensile tests. The microstructures of the studied AZ31 alloys were also investigated with optical microscope. The results show that, compared with the as-cast AZ31 alloy, the corrosion potentials of all hot-extruded AZ31 alloys are increased by 60 mV. Moreover, at the extrusion temperature of 623 K, the galvanic current of AZ31 alloy decreases with increasing extrusion and the galvanic corrosion resistance is increased by 10% with the extrusion ratio of 50. In addition, the tensile strength and elongation of the extruded alloys are significantly enhanced by about 20% and 140%, respectively. The improvement of corrosion resistance and obvious increasing of mechanical properties of AZ31 alloys by hot-extrusion are ascribed to grain refinement and microstructural modification together with the homogeneous distribution of intermetallic phases throughout the matrix.