Precipitation of secondary phase in Mg-Zn-Gd alloy after room-temperature deformation and annealing

Mg-Zn-RE alloys reinforced with quasicrystals have been investigated extensively because they show excellent balance in mechanical properties. Here, we perform deformation and annealing for Mg-1.50Zn-0.25Gd (at.%) alloy at various temperatures, aimed to gain nanoscale precipitates. We find that after the room-temperature compression, the non-basal dislocation, stacking fault and twining are identified in the as-deformed samples, offering clear evidence that these deformation mechanisms can accommodate room-temperature deformation. We also perform systematic transmission electron microscopy observations of the precipitates in both the as-deformed and as-annealed samples. The results identify the formation of a large amount of secondary-phase precipitates, I-phase and MgZn2, when annealed at 200 °C, and precipitation of a small amount of W-phase when annealed at 400 °C.