Effects of cerium addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties and hot workability of ZK60 alloy

The effects of cerium (Ce) addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 alloy were investigated using SEM, EBSD, and TEM and by performing tensile tests of indirect-extruded ZK60 alloys with 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt% Ce contents. The variation of hot workability due to Ce addition was also investigated by establishing processing maps of these alloys. The results revealed that Ce addition had an obvious influence, reducing the average grain size and weakening the basal fiber texture of the as-extruded ZK60 alloys; these changes were attributed to the promotion of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) by particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) at Mg–Zn–Ce particles. The yield and tensile strengths were improved by the Ce addition, while the elongation was decreased due to the hard Mg–Zn–Ce particles. It was also found that the hot workability improves up to the addition of 1.0 wt% Ce and then deteriorates.