Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2019, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (3): 269-285.DOI: 10.1007/s40195-018-0862-x

Special Issue: 2019年镁合金专辑

• Orginal Article •     Next Articles

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg-RE-TM Cast Alloys Containing Long Period Stacking Ordered Phases: A Review

Huan Liu1(), He Huang1, Jia-Peng Sun1, Ce Wang1, Jing Bai2, Ai-Bin Ma1, Xian-Hua Chen3()   

  1. 1 College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
    2 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
    3 National Engineering Research Center for Magnesium Alloys (CCMg), Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
  • Received:2018-09-30 Revised:2018-11-15 Online:2019-03-10 Published:2019-02-22
  • About author:

    Huan Liu is a Lecturer, Master’s Supervisor, College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University. He earned his Ph.D. from Southeast University in 2014 and then became a Lecturer in Hohai University. He was selected into the “Shuangchuang Program of Jiangsu Province” and “Dayu Scholars Program of Hohai University” in 2017. So far, he has published more than 30 scientific papers (indexed by SCI) and held 2 authorized Chinese patents. His papers were cited more than 200 times. His research interests mainly include design of high-strength and high ductility magnesium alloys, heat-resistant magnesium alloys, fabrication of fine-grained and ultra-fine-grained metallic materials, and biomedical materials.

    Xian-Hua Chen is a Professor of Chongqing University and received his Doctor’s degree from Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008. He is Director of Institute of Functional Mg Alloys in National Engineering Research Centre for Magnesium Alloys, Director of International Joint Laboratory for Light Alloys (Ministry of Education), Editorial Board of Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) (SCI). His research work is focused on new high-performance structural and functional magnesium alloys, and purification technology of magnesium alloys. He also worked in Materials Technology Laboratory of CANMET in Canada as visiting scientist during 2012-2013. He has 22 patents, 1 book and more than 60 SCI papers, including 2 science papers. His papers were cited more than 2700 times. He was awarded the Provincial and Ministerial S&T Prize in 2013, 2014 and 2017. He was the Chairman of “The 2nd China Youth Scholars Conference on Mg Alloys.”

Abstract:

Casting magnesium alloys hold the greatest share of magnesium application products due to their short processing period, low cost and near net shape forming. Compared with conventional commercial magnesium alloys or other Mg-RE-based alloys, the novel Mg-RE-TM cast alloys with long period stacking ordered (LPSO) phases usually possess a higher strength and are promising candidates for aluminum alloy applications. Up to now, two ways: alloying design and casting process control (including subsequent heat treatments), have been predominantly employed to further improve the mechanical properties of these alloys. Alloying with other elements or ceramic particles could alter the solidification pattern of alloys, change the morphology of LPSO phases and refine the microstructures. Different casting techniques (conventional casting, rapidly solidification, directional solidification, etc.) introduce various microstructure characteristics, such as dendritic structure, nanocrystalline, metastable phase, anisotropy. Further heat treatments could activate the transformation of various LPSO structures and precipitation of diverse precipitates. All these evolutions exert great impacts on the mechanical properties of the LPSO-containing alloys. However, the underlying mechanisms still remain a subject of debate. Therefore, this review mainly provides the state of the art of the casting magnesium alloys research and the accompanying challenges and summarizes some topics that merit future investigation for developing high-performance Mg-RE-TM cast alloys.

Key words: Magnesium alloys, Long period stacking ordered phase, Casting, Heat treatment, Phase transformations, Mechanical properties