Abstract
For enhanced fuel economy lightweight components are essential in automotive design. Being the lightest structural metal, Mg alloys are potential lightweight candidates. However, due to insufficient strength, Mg alloys are not being used extensively in the automotive industry. Grain refinement is a proven method to increase strength. In this research, the influence of ZnO on the grain size of AZ91E and Mg-9 wt.% Al binary alloy was investigated. With an addition of 0.75 wt.% ZnO, the average grain size of the AZ alloy decreased from 217 μm to 108 μm. For the binary alloy, the grain size reduced from 288 μm to 93 μm with an addition of 3 wt.% ZnO. No significant fading of ZnO grain refiner was observed for both the alloys. The grain refinement was attributed to ZnO particles providing heterogeneous nuclei, and grain growth restriction due to Zn solute, which was liberated from ZnO.
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Saha, S., Ravindran, C. Grain Refinement of AZ91E and Mg-9 WT.% Al Binary Alloys Using Zinc Oxide. Inter Metalcast 9, 33–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03355600
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03355600