Influence of size and distribution of W phase on strength and ductility of high strength Mg-5.1Zn-3.2Y-0.4Zr-0.4Ca alloy processed by indirect extrusion

A high strength Mg-5.1Zn-3.2Y-0.4Zr-0.4Ca (wt%) alloy containing W phase (Mg3Y2Zn3) prepared by permanent mold direct-chill casting is indirectly extruded at 350 °C and 400 °C, respectively. The extruded alloys show bimodal grain structure consisting of fine dynamic recrystallized (DRXed) grains and unrecrystallized coarse regions containing fine W phase and β2ʹ precipitates. The fragmented W phase particles induced by extrusion stimulate nucleation of DRXed grains, leading to the formation of fine DRXed grains, which are mainly distributed near the W particle bands along the extrusion direction. The alloy extruded at 350 °C exhibits yield strength of 373 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 403 MPa and elongation to failure of 5.1%. While the alloy extruded at 400 °C shows lower yield strength of 332 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 352 MPa and higher elongation to failure of 12%. The mechanical properties of the as-extruded alloys vary with the distribution and size of W phase. A higher fraction of DRXed grains is obtained due to the homogeneous distribution of micron-scale broken W phase particles in the alloy extruded at 400 °C, which can lead to higher ductility. In addition, the nano-scale dynamic W phase precipitates distributed in the unDRXed regions are refined at lower extrusion temperature. The smaller size of nano-scale W phase precipitates leads to a higher fraction of unDRXed regions which contributes to higher strength of the alloy extruded at 350 °C.