The in-situ mechanical spectroscopy and electric resistance study of WE43 magnesium alloy during aging

The WE43 magnesium alloy was studied by mechanical spectroscopy and electric resistance measurements in-situ during aging at 210 and 250 °C. Isothermal aging up to 196 h at these temperatures promotes only minor increase in the Young's modulus (0.4-2.5%). The mechanical spectroscopy results correlate with the resistance measurements and are discussed with respect to the precipitation sequence in this material. Furthermore, during heating up to 450 °C, the mechanical spectroscopy measurements identified an internal friction peak at ∼350 °C which is brought about by the relaxation at interfaces between the semicoherent and incoherent precipitates and the matrix. Height of the peak is dependent on the material thermal history.