Achieving high strength in indirectly-extruded binary Mg–Ca alloy containing Guinier–Preston zones

We developed a high strength Mg–1 wt.% Ca binary alloy by an integrated method comprising of conventional casting, homogenization and indirect extrusion. The as-extruded Mg–Ca alloy exhibits superior mechanical properties compared with the currently reported results, possessing a tensile yield strength of 310 MPa and an ultimate tensile strength of 330 MPa, which is attributed to the combined effects of fine dynamically recrystallized grains and nanoscale Mg2Ca heterogeneous phases. It is worthy to emphasize that a high density of Guinier–Preston (G.P.) zones appear and are expected to play important roles in precipitation hardening and pinning the grain growth of α-Mg matrix.