Synthesis of bulk nanostructured Mg-based alloy via spark plasma sintering through in situ crystallization of an amorphous precursor

Abstract

We present the synthesis of a bulk nanostructured Mg-based alloy that has a grain size less than 300 nm. A nanostructured Mg-Zn-Cu-Nd alloy with an exceptionally high hardness can be obtained through simultaneous consolidation and in situ crystallization of the amorphous Mg _84 Zn _7 Cu _3 Nd _6 alloy precursor using the spark plasma sintering process. We evaluate the relationship between the microstructure and preparation conditions on the grain size of nanostructured Mg-based alloys during the sintering process. The hardness of the bulk sample produced from the sintered amorphous Mg-Zn-Cu-Nd precursor at 260 °C is maximized via the nanocrystallization of intermetallic compounds using the sintering process. The populated crystallization and confined growth of phases contribute to the refinement of gains in nanostructured Mg-based alloys.

Keywords

• nanostructure
• amorphous
• metallic glass
• crystallization
• consolidation
• sintering