Enhancing the performance of magnesium alloy AZ31 by integration with millimeter length scale aluminium-based cores

Abstract

New bimetal magnesium/aluminium macrocomposites containing millimeter-scale Al-based core reinforcement were fabricated using solidification processing followed by hot coextrusion. Two approaches were attempted for enhancing the performance of AZ31: (a) AZ31 shell integration with pure Al core (pure Al core approach) and (b) AZ31 shell integration with AA5052 core (AA5052 core approach), in that order. In the AA5052 core approach eventually, macrointerface width was increased by 2 orders of magnitude (compared to that in the macrocomposite obtained using the pure Al core approach), while stiffness was increased (+36%), 0.2%YS was unchanged and UTS was increased (+14%) (compared to monolithic AZ31). The evolution of the Mg-Al macrointerface and its effect on microstructure and mechanical properties is investigated in this article. © The Author(s), 2010.