Study on the microstructure and mechanical Properties of WE71 magnesium alloy

The microstructure and mechanical properties of WE71 alloy in different states were investigated by OM, SEM, TEM, XRD, EBSD and tensile testing. The results indicated that the as-cast alloy consists of α-Mg matrix, Mg24Y5 and Mg41Nd5 phase which were a eutectic phase, cubes of rich Y phase, with an average grain size of 265 μm. After homogenization heat treatment, the elements distributed uniformly and the grains no grew up obviously, only yttrium element of intermetallic compounds left around boundary. The structure of cubes of rich Y phase was face-centered cubic structure (f.c.c.), lattice constant a=0.52 nm. The as-extruded alloy had strong basal texture, the intensity of the basal texture was 6.127. The as-extruded alloy had better mechanical properties than the as-cast alloy, the YTS and UTS of 219 and 297 MPa, respectively, especially the elongation increased to 15.4%.