The Effect of Y/Er and Zn Addition on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-11Li Alloy

Although body-centered cubic (BCC) structural magnesium–lithium (Mg-Li) alloys have lower density and better formability than common hexagonal close-packed (HCP) Mg alloys, their applications remain limited due to their low strength. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Y/Er and Zn addition on the microstructure and tensile properties of Mg-11Li alloy with a BCC structural matrix by comparing Mg-11Li, Mg-11Li-4Y-2Er-2Zn, and Mg-11Li-8Y-4Er-4Zn (wt %) alloys. The results indicate that the addition of Y/Er and Zn at a ratio of 3:1 cannot promote the formation of long-period stacking ordered structure in Mg-11Li alloy such as that in Mg-Y-Er-Zn alloys and the dominant intermetallic phases formed are BCC Mg(24)RE(5) and face-centered cubic (FCC) Mg(3)RE(2)Zn(3) phases. With an increase of the content of Y/Er and Zn in an as-cast alloy, the fraction of intermetallic particles increases and the grain size decreases. The addition of Y/Er, as well as Zn, dramatically promotes the refinement of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during extrusion. The initial intermetallic phases induced by Y/Er and Zn addition are broken into relatively fine particles during extrusion, and this contributes to refining the dynamic recrystallized (DRXed) grains mainly by the particle stimulated nucleation mechanism. The as-extruded Mg-11Li-4Y-2Er-2Zn and Mg-11Li-8Y-4Er-4Zn alloys exhibit much higher tensile strength as compared with as-extruded Mg-11Li alloy, which is mainly ascribed to the refined DRXed grains and numerous dispersed intermetallic phase particles. It is suggested that further refinement of intermetallic particles in these extruded Mg-11Li-based alloys may lead to higher quality alloy materials with low density and excellent mechanical properties.