Effects of T5 Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties at Elevated Temperature of AZ80-Ag Alloy

Effects of T5 treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties at elevated temperature of hot-ring-rolled (HRRed) AZ80-Ag magnesium alloy were systematically investigated. Results show that, after aging at 175 °C for 36 h, discontinuous and continuous precipitates form inside grains, with the former one taking up a volume fraction of ~64.9%. T5 treatment improves the tensile strength at ambient temperature of the alloy but weakens its tensile strength and creep resistance at elevated temperatures (120–175 °C), indicating opposite effects of T5 on mechanical properties at ambient and elevated temperatures. During creep at 120–175 °C and under 70–90 MPa, the dynamic precipitation process in HRRed specimen is accelerated with increasing temperature. At 150–175 °C massive nucleation and growth of dynamic discontinuous precipitates could result in an atypical primary creep stage, consisting of deceleration and acceleration creep stages, which is reported in wrought Mg-Al-based alloy for the first time. Such primary creep stage can be eliminated by T5 treatment. Besides, diffusion-controlled dislocation creep is the dominant creep mechanism for both HRRed and T5 specimens.