Microstructure and Creep Resistance of Mg-(8-12 Wt.%) Zn-(2-6 Wt.%) Al Alloys

The aim of this paper is to investigate the microstructural characteristics and creep resistance of Mg-(8-12 Wt. %) Zn-(2-6 Wt. %) Al alloys in order to get a better overall understanding of these series alloys. The results indicate that the alloys studied with the ratio of Zn/Al concentration between 2 and 3 exhibit high creep resistances, and the alloy ZAl24 with the continuous network of tau precipitate along grain boundaries shows the highest creep resistance. The creep resistance of alloys decreases significantly due to epsilon eutectic phase, phi eutectics and beta compounds appearing, especially the creep properties of alloys containing phi eutectic phase and beta phase with lower Zn/Al concentration are obviously inferior to other alloys.