A comparison of the processing routes on the properties of Mg reinforced with nanosize MgO

Abstract

Powder metallurgy and liquid metallurgy techniques were used to fabricate Mg reinforced with different volume fraction of nano-size MgO particles. A higher volume fraction of MgO particles could be added into the Mg matrix when the liquid metallurgy technique was used. Microstructural analysis was carried out to examine the distribution of the nanoparticles in the Mg matrix when different processing routes were chosen. Individual particles together with sparsely distributed agglomerations could be discerned in the Mg matrix for both processing routes. Mechanical properties results revealed that a more substantial improvement in macrohardness and tensile properties could be achieved by using the liquid metallurgy route where a higher amount of nano-size MgO particles could be incorporated. Copyright © 2010 by ASME.