Material design for magnesium alloys with high deformability
Abstract
Magnesium alloys are very promising structural material, especially because of their low density, but their poor deformability at room temperature is making their commercial application impractical. Some alloying elements have been shown to improve the ductility dramatically, and a search for the yet better alloying elements is now a pressing task. In this study, we investigated the effects of several alloying elements on the mechanical and deformation behaviour of magnesium alloys using both first-principles calculations as well as experiments. The first-principles calculations indicate that the influential key factor for the activation of non-basal slips is the electronegativity and atomic radius. The experimental result proves that the alloys with a similar electronegativity as magnesium and a little larger atomic radius than that of magnesium, such as Ca, Sr and some rare earth elements, show superior ductility due to activation of non-basal dislocation slips. These results propose a promising design principle for the alloys with the improved deformability at room temperature ranges.
- Publication:
-
Philosophical Magazine
- Pub Date:
- March 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1080/14786435.2015.1009518
- Bibcode:
- 2015PMag...95..869S
- Keywords:
-
- magnesium alloys;
- solute atom;
- first-principle calculation;
- mechanical properties