The present study addresses the development of a AZ31B—Al2O 3 nanocomposite. AZ31B—Al2O3 nannocomposite is known to exhibit excellent ductility matching with that of pure aluminum but with limited strength levels. Addition of Ca is shown in this study to lead to a simultaneous improvement in 0.2%YS, UTS and hardness while the ductility was compromised. The ductility, however, stayed ~30% higher than the ductility of monolithic AZ31B. The results suggest that this alloy-composite has significant potential in diverse engineering applications when compared to AZ31B or AZ31B—Al2O3 nanocomposites.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
Li, S.S. , Tang, B. and Zeng, D.B. (2007). Effects and Mechanism of Ca on Refinement of AZ91D Alloy, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 437: 317-321.
6.
Yuan, G.Y., Liu, Z.L., Wang, Q.D. and Ding, W.J. (2002). Microstructure Refinement of Mg-Al-Zn-Si Alloys , Materials Letters, 56: 53-58.
7.
Yim, C.D. , You, B.S., Jang, R.S. and Lim, S.G. (2006). Effects of Melt Temperature and Mold Preheating Temperature on the Fluidity of Ca Containing AZ31 Alloys , Journal of Materials Science, 41: 2347-2350.
8.
Han, L., Hu, H., Northwood, D.O. and Li, N. (2008). Microstructure and Nano-scale Mechanical Behavior of Mg-Al and Mg-Al-Ca Alloys, Materials Science and Enginering A, 473: 16-27.
9.
Morisada, Y. , Fujii, H., Nagaoka, T. and Fukusumi, M. (2006). Effect of Friction Stir Processing with SiC Particles on Microstructure and Hardness of AZ31, Materials Science and Engineering A, 433: 50-54.
10.
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11.
Nguyen, Q.B. and Gupta, M. (2008). Increasing Significantly the Failure Strain and Work of Fracture of Solidification Processed AZ31B Using Nano-Al2O3 Particulates, Journal of Alloys Compounds , 459: 244-250.
12.
Laser, T., Nurnberg, M.R., Janz, A., Hartig, C., Letzig, D., Schmid-Fetzer, R. and Bormann, R. (2006). The Influence of Manganese on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AZ31 Gravity Die Cast Alloys, Acta Materialia, 54(11): 3033-3041.
13.
Han, Q. and Dunand, D.C. (2000). Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Magnesium Containing High Volume Fractions of Yttria Dispersoids, Materials Science and Engineering A, 277: 297-304.
14.
Han, L. , Hu, H. and Northwood, D.O. (2008). Effect of Ca Additions on Microstructure and Microhardness of an as-Cast Mg-5.0wt% Al Alloy, Materials Letters, 62: 381-384.
15.
Sumida, M. (2008). Microstructure Development of Sand-Cast AZ-Type Magnesium Alloys Modified by Simultaneous Addition of Calcium and Neodymium , Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 460: 619-626.
16.
Jing, B., Yangshan, S., Feng, X., Shan, X., Jing, Q. and Weijian, T. (2006). Effect of Extrusion on Microstructures and Mechanical and Creep Properties of Mg-Al-Sr and Mg-Al-Sr-Ca Alloys, Scripta Materialia, 55: 1163-1166.
17.
Shan, Z.J., Wei, D.H., Feng, L.B., Yan, Z., Wei, L., Xiang, X.C. and Lei, L.F. (2007). Effect of Calcium on Crystallization of Mg-Based Master Alloy Containing Spherical Quasicrystal, Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, 17: 273-279.
18.
Hassan, S.F. and Gupta, M. (2003). Development of High Strength Magnesium-Copper Based Hybrid Composites with Enhanced Tensile Properties, Materials Science and Technology, 19: 253-259.
19.
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