Materials Research Letters (Dec 2024)

Enhanced age-hardening in a lean Mg-Al-Ca-Mn alloy by trace silver addition

  • Zhao-Yuan Meng,
  • Hai-Long Jia,
  • Hong Ju,
  • Shen-Bao Jin,
  • Kai Guan,
  • Cheng Wang,
  • Min Zha,
  • Hui-Yuan Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2024.2441338

Abstract

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Promoting the precipitation of Guinier-Preston (G.P.) zones in fast-extruded Mg-Al-Ca-Mn alloys could enhance the age-hardenability, which remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report an unexpected enhancement of age-hardenability in a Mg-0.35Al-0.13Ca-0.18Mn alloy (at.%) by a mere addition of 0.02 at.% Ag, i.e. the hardening response increases from 38 MPa to 59 MPa. The Ag addition is demonstrated to promote the early-stage solute clustering, which is responsible for the promoted precipitation of G.P. zones with a denser distribution. Our findings may provide new insights into the development of fast-extruded Mg-Al-Ca-Mn alloys with high strength.

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