A study of the effect of antimony content on damping capacity of ZA84 magnesium alloy

The effects of antimony content on damping capacity of as cast Mg–8Zn–4A1–0.3Mn magnesium alloy were investigated by using optical microscopy and dynamic mechanical analyzer, etc. The results indicated that the damping capacity of Mg–8Zn–4A1–0.3Mn magnesium alloy was reduced at the low temperatures (<80 °C) after adding antimony, but its damping capacity was improved at the higher temperatures (>80 °C). There exists a damping peak in both modified and unmodified alloys with different temperature, adding antimony postpones the emergence temperature of damping peak. The damping capacities of the modified alloys were decreased gradually with the increase of antimony content. In the present work, the best damping capacity was obtained from the modified alloy containing 0.1 wt.% antimony at the high temperatures.

► The damping capacity of ZA84 magnesium alloy was reduced at low temperatures (<80 °C) after adding Sb.
► The damping capacities of all the Sb modification alloys were higher than unmodified alloy at high temperatures.
► The addition of Sb postpones the appearance temperature of damping peak.
► The damping capacity of ZA84 magnesium alloy was decreased gradually with the increase of Sb content.
► Sb modification ZA84 magnesium alloys have good prospects for engineering applications.