Magnesium alloys designed for medical applications

Title: Magnesium alloys designed for medical applications Author: Mária Zemková Abstract: This Master thesis is focused on the influence of hot extrusion and equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties of magnesium alloys. Investigated materials include three magnesium alloys with the addition of neodymium and/or yttrium elements - N3, W3 and WN43, as a potential material for medical applications. Moreover, the influence of alloying elements in solid solution state was studied. Microstructure development was characterized by scanning electron microscopy together with transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Mechanical properties was studied by compression deformation tests in two perpendicular directions and by microhardness tests. The linear polarization method was used to study corrosion resistance. The processing though ECAP resulted in grain refinement in all three alloys. Ultra-fine grained microstructure was achieved in W3 and WN43 alloy. The high degree of recrystallization during ECAP caused the formation of high-angle grain boundaries in all three alloys. Weak texture evolution was maintained during both processings. A different initial fraction of intermetallic phases before extrusion led to significant changes of microstructure..