Effect of Ca addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of extruded AZ31 alloy

마그네슘합금 AZ31 압출재의 기계적특성에 미치는 Ca의 효과

The effect of Ca addition on the microstructure evolution and deformation behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy produced by hot extrusion was investigated. For this purpose, Ca was added into AZ31 melts to the level of 0.7 and 2.0 wt.% Ca. Then, AZ31 base alloy and Ca modified AZ31 alloys were extruded at $383^{\circ}C$. Ca added alloys showed finer grain size and increased hardness value rather than AZ31 base alloy. After isothermal hot compression, the shape of tested specimen exhibited a noticeable anisotropy due to the crystallographic texture effect. The ratio of major and minor axes of ovality was not directly related to test condition and Ca amount. Flow stress level increases with the increase of Ca addition at temperature below $300^{\circ}C$ because of fine microstructure. However, at high temperature and low strain rate region ($400^{\circ}C$ and $10^{-3}s^{-1}$), reverse tendency was observed since main deformation mechanism changes from dislocation slip to grain boundary sliding or diffusional process at high temperature.