Significantly improved strength and ductility in bimodal-size grained microstructural magnesium matrix composites reinforced by bimodal sized SiCp over traditional magnesium matrix composites

High strong magnesium matrix composites can be obtained by refining grain size, heat treatment and severe plastic deformation methods. However, most of the composite enhancing approaches result in the disappointingly poor tensile ductility. Thus, the designing and fabricating of composites with simultaneously good ductility and high strength have become burning issues for the application of light metals/alloys. Simply adding particles or changing particle parameters can not solve the problem of combination of high strength and good ductility. A new method has been developed, wherein the bimodal size grained microstructure formed by adding the bimodal sized SiC particles (SiCp) was selected as favorable microstructure for achieving good ductility and high strength in present work. The fine grains (grain size: <1 μm) were obtained through the particle stimulate of nucleation (PSN) and pin grain boundary effect. However, the coarse grains (grain size: ∼4 μm) were obtained through forming SiCp free zones in the present magnesium matrix composites. The tensile test indicates a significant improvement in the ductility (∼8.3%) and strength (UTS: ∼402 MPa, YS: ∼323 MPa) of the composites. Compared with the conventional single-sized particles (micron or nano) reinforced magnesium matrix composites, the tensile ductility and strength of present composite (AZ31B/SiCp/1n + 9m composite) were highlighted in the current literature.