Effect of heating rate during hybrid microwave sintering on the tensile properties of magnesium and Mg/Y2O3 nanocomposite

In the present study, pure magnesium and a Mg/Y2O3 nanocomposite were microwave sintered using heating rates of 49 and 20 °C/min. Results obtained from extruded rods revealed that average hardness and strengths of both Mg and Mg/Y2O3 samples were higher when they were sintered at higher heating rate. Ductility of pure Mg, however, reduced at higher heating rate while it remained similar for Mg/Y2O3 nanocomposite. An attempt is made to correlate tensile properties with the end microstructural features of the samples sintered at two different heating rates.