Influence of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Corrosion Behavior of Thixo-cast Mg-Y-Nd-Zr

The influence of semisolid metal processing (SSM, also called thixoforming) and T6 heat treatment (HT) on the microstructure and corrosion behavior in chlorides of Mg-Y-Nd-Zr (WE43B) magnesium alloy was investigated. The as-cast microstructure is composed of α-Mg grains with the size of 52.8 ± 1.9 μm surrounded by eutectic precipitations enriched in rare-earth elements (Y, Nd). The thixo-cast microstructure contained α-Mg globular grains with the size of 65.5 ± 2.1 μm surrounded by a fine eutectic mixture in the volume of 26.6%. The T6 HT (heat treatment and saturation at 525°C/5 h, cooling in H2O and aging at 190°C/48 h) caused an increase of yield strength to 180 MPa and tensile strength to 280 MPa at the hardness 105 ± 4 HV5. Next, the electrochemical response was investigated in 0.1 M NaCl using the global and local LSV (linear sweep voltammetry) and EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) methods. The EIS method suggests the same mechanism for the processes occurring at the electrode/electrolyte interface and shows higher values of the polarization resistances of treated samples after 24-h immersion tests. In particular, better corrosion resistance in chlorides is observed in the alloy after SSM compared to the SSM/HT specimen, which has also been confirmed by the LSV tests performed after 24-h immersion. By using a local technique, a higher susceptibility of the matrix of SSM and SSM/HT samples to pitting corrosion has been revealed.