• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.271-276
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• 2020

The relationship between the hardness and interlamellar spacing of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) formed by continuous cooling was studied for Mg-9%Al-1%Zn alloy. After solution treatment at 683 K for 24 h, the specimens were cooled to room temperature with different cooling rates ranging from 0.2 to 2 K·min^-1, in order to obtain DPs with various interlamellar spacings. It was found that cooling rate of 2 K·min^-1 yielded only small amount of nodular DPs at the grain boundaries, while cooling rates below 2 K·min^-1 yielded both DPs and continuous precipitates (CPs). The volume fraction of DPs increased with increasing cooling rate up to 0.5 K·min^-1, over which it abruptly decreased. The hardness of DPs was increased with an increase in the cooling rate, whereas the interlamellar spacing of the DPs was decreased with respect to cooling rate. The hardness of the DPs formed by continuous cooling was correlated with the interlamellar spacing and can follow a Hall-Petch type relation as in the case of pearlite with lamellar morphology.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.287-293
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• 2021

This study was intended to investigate the influence of Al content on hardness and microstructural characteristics of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) formed by isothermal aging in Mg-8.7%Al and Mg-10%Al alloys. In order to obtain large amount of DPs in the microstructure, the alloy specimens were solution-treated at 688K for 24 h followed by water quenching, and then aged at 418K for 48h. The Mg-Al alloy with higher Al content was characterized by higher volume fraction of DPs at the same aging condition, lower interlamellar spacing of the DPs, thinner β phase layer and higher β phase content in the DPs. This is closely related to the higher velocity of discontinuous precipitation process resulting from the higher Al supersaturation in the α-(Mg) matrix. The Mg-10%Al alloy showed higher hardness of the DPs and greater difference in hardness between as-cast state and DPs than the Mg-8.7%Al alloy.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.173-179
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate comparatively the microstructural characteristics and hardness of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) in Mg-9%Al alloy, which were formed by continuous cooling (CC) from 678 K to RT and isothermal aging (IA) at 413 K, respectively. In as-cast state, the Mg-9%Al alloy consisted of partially divorced eutectic β(Mg₁₇Al₁₂) particles with a small amount of DPs showing (α+β) lamellar morphology adjacent to the β particles. The DPs formed by CC had interlamellar spacings in a broad range of 0.85~2.12 ㎛ (1.51 ㎛ in average) owing to the various formation temperatures in response to continuous cooling process. Meanwhile, the DPs formed by IA had relatively narrower interlamellar spacings of 0.14~0.29 ㎛ (0.21 ㎛ in average), which is associated with the low and constant formation temperature. Thinner and higher volume fraction of β phase layers were noticeable in the DPs formed by IA. Higher hardness values were obtained in the DPs formed by IA than the DPs formed by CC, which may well be ascribed to the finer lamellar structure and higher β phase content of the DPs formed by IA.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.219-225
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• 2020

The objective of this study was to investigate the tensile properties and thermal conductivities of Mg9.3%Al alloy in as-cast state and heat-treated state consisting of fully discontinuous precipitates (DPs), respectively. The fully DPs microstructure was obtained by solution treatment at 405℃ for 24 h, followed by furnace cooling to RT. The as-cast alloy showed a partially divorced eutectic β(Mg₁₇Al₁₂) phase particles formed along the α-(Mg) cell boundaries. The DPs had various apparent (α+β) interlamellar spacings, which is related to different transformation temperatures during the furnace cooling. The DPs microstructure exhibited better tensile strength than the as-cast one, resulting from the higher value of elongation in response to its more homogeneous microstructure. It is noticeable that the DPs microstructure had 12.4% higher thermal conductivity in average than the as-cast one between RT and 200℃. The XRD analyses revealed that the lower Al concentration in the α-(Mg) matrix may well be responsible for the better thermal conductivity of the DPs microstructure.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.231-236
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the microstructural characteristics and hardness distribution of AZ91 magnesium alloy furnace-cooled to room temperature after solution treatment, and to compare the results with those of as-cast condition. The as-cast alloy showed a partially divorced eutectic ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$ phase and discontinuous precipitates (DPs) with a lamellar morphology, while only DPs were observed in the furnace-cooled alloy. The DPs in the furnace-cooled AZ91 alloy had various apparent interlamellar spacings, which would be ascribed to the different transformation temperatures during the furnace cooling. The average hardness for the furnace-cooled alloy is similar to that for the as-cast alloy. It is interesting to note that the hardness values of the furnace-cooled alloy were distributed over a narrower range than those of the as-cast alloy. This is likely to be caused by the relatively more homogeneous microstructure of the furnace-cooled alloy in comparison with the ascast one.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.218-225
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• 2021

In this study, damping capacities were comparatively investigated for Mg-9%Al alloy with as-cast (AC) and fully discontinuous precipitates (DPs) microstructures, respectively. The DPs microstructure was obtained by solution treatment at 678 K for 24 h, followed by furnace cooling to RT. The AC microstructure was typically characterized by partially divorced eutectic β(Mg₁₇Al₁₂) phase particles distributed along the α-(Mg) matrix cell boundaries. The DPs microstructure showed lamellar morphology consisting of α and β thin layers with various interlamellar spacings. The DPs microstructure had better damping capacity than the AC microstructure in the strain-amplitude independent region, while in the strain-amplitude dependent region, the damping behavior was reversed. In view of the microstructural features of AC and DPs, the lower concentration of Al in the α-(Mg) phase for the DPs microstructure and the lower β phase number density for the AC microstructure would be responsible for the higher damping capacities in the strain-amplitude independent and strain-amplitude dependent regions, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.177-184
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• 2022

The present study aims to investigate the influence of Zn addition on hardness and microstructural characteristics of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) formed by isothermal aging in Mg-9%Al and Mg-9%Al-1%Zn alloys. To obtain large DPs volume fractions in the microstructure, the alloy specimens were solution-treated at 688 K for 24 h followed by water quenching, and then aged at 413 K for 48 h. The aged Mg-9%Al-1%Zn alloy had higher DPs content than the Mg-9%Al alloy, indicating that the Zn addition plays a beneficial role in enhancing age-hardening response. The DPs in the Zn-containing alloy possessed the higher hardness than those of the Zn-free alloy. Microstructural examination revealed that the increased hardness of the DPs resulting from the Zn addition is closely associated with the lower α-(Mg)/β(Mg₁₇Al₁₂) interlamellar spacing and the higher volume fraction of β phase layer of the DPs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.295-302
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• 2022

The present study aims to investigate the effect of Al content on microstructure and hardness of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) formed by continuous cooling (CC) in Mg-8%Al and Mg-9.5%Al alloys. The DPs had a wide range of (α+β) interlamellar spacings, which may well be attributed to the different transformation temperatures during CC. The higher Al content gave rise to the higher level of interlamellar spacings of the DPs, and thicker and larger amount of β phase layer in the DPs. It is noticeable that the Mg-9.5%Al alloy exhibited higher hardness of the DPs than the Mg-8%Al alloy, but the ratio of increase in hardness of the DPs compared to that of the as-cast state was similar regardless of the Al content. The reason was discussed based on the differences in microstructures of the DPs for the Mg-8%Al and Mg-9.5%Al alloys.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.302-308
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate the dependence of the hardness and thermal conductivity on the volume fraction of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) in the Mg-9.3%Al alloy with (α-(Mg)+DPs) dual phase structure. In order to obtain various DPs volume fractions, the alloy was solution-treated at 688 K for 24 h and then aged at 418 K for up to 144 h. The volume fraction of DPs increased from 0% to 63% with an increase in the aging time up to 72 h, over which, continuous precipitation was observed within the α-(Mg) grains. It is noticeable that the hardness and thermal conductivity of the alloy increased linearly with the volume fraction of DPs. The improved hardness and thermal conductivity with respect to volume fraction of DPs are closely associated with the higher hardness of the DPs with fine (α+β) lamellar structure and the lower Al concentration in the α phase layer of the DPs, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.223-229
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• 2023

This work was intended to investigate the effects of Zn content on microstructure and hardness of discontinuous precipitates (DPs) produced by continuous cooling (CC) in Mg-8%Al-X%Zn alloys with 0%, 0.5% and 1% of Zn contents (wt%). The DPs in the alloys possessed a wide range of (α+β) interlamellar spacings, which is attributed to the different transformation temperatures during CC. The higher Zn content resulted in the lower level of interlamellar spacings of the DPs, along with thinner and larger volume fraction of β phase layer in the DPs. It is noted that the DPs in the alloy with higher Zn content exhibited higher hardness, and that the ratio of increase in hardness of the DPs to that of the as-cast state was also increased with increasing Zn content. The reason was discussed on the basis of microstructural differences of the DPs in the Mg-8%Al-X%Zn alloys.