Effect of microalloying on microstructure and hot working behavior for AZ31 based magnesium alloy

The formability of Mg alloy sheet in the as-hot rolled condition depends on the microstructure developed during hot rolling. In general, the formability of Mg alloys is improved by finer grain sizes. 'Microalloying' levels of calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), and cerium (Ce) have been found to refine the as-cast structure, but there is no information as to whether this effect will be reflected in the as-hot worked structure and formability. Thus, in this work, the effects of microalloying levels of calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), and cerium (Ce) on the microstructures (from as-cast to as-hot rolled) and subsequent hot deformation behavior of AZ31, nominally 3% Al, 1% Zn, and 0.3%Mn, were systematically investigated.To include the effect of solidification rate these alloys were cast in different moulds (preheated steel mould, Cu-mould, and water cooled Cu-mould). One-hit compression testing at temperatures between 250°C ∼ 400 °C, strain rates of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 s-1 and strains from 0.2 up to 1.0, was performed to investigate the basic hot compression behavior, while two-hit compression testing was conducted to determine the static softening behavior. Hot rolling of the microalloyed AZ31 alloys was then carried out to study the effects of microalloying on as-hot rolled structure under two sets of rolling schedules. To investigate the formability of these microalloyed sheets, tensile tests were completed over a temperature range between ambient and 450°C, at strain rates between 0.1 and 0.0003 s-1.Results show that Ca and Sr act to refine the as cast grain size and the second phases, consistently promoting fine and uniform as-hot rolled grain structure. With regard to grain refinement, calcium has the strongest effect, whereas Ce is most effective for second phase refinement. In addition, microalloying retards grain growth during hot tensile testing. Multiple alloying presents a combined and complementary effect.A refined and uniform grain structure combined with well dispersed and thermally stable second phases significantly improves the hot formability of AZ31 sheets by promoting dynamic recrystallization (DRX) in the matrix, resisting grain coarsening, and retarding the development of cavitation and necking. Under the superplastic condition of 450°C and 0.0003 s -1, the elongation was improved by 17% with Ca only, 26% with Ca and Ce, 51% with Ca and Sr, and 59% with Ca, Sr and Ce