Ultrasonic Vibration and Rheocasting for Refinement of Mg-Zn-Y Alloy Reinforced with LPSO Structure

In this work, ultrasonic vibration (UV) and rheo-squeeze casting was first applied on the Mg alloy reinforced with long period stacking ordered (LPSO) structure. The semisolid slurry of Mg-Zn-Y alloy was prepared by UV and processed by rheosqueeze casting in succession. The effects of UV, Zr addition and squeeze pressure on microstructure of semisolid Mg-Zn-Y alloy were studied. The results revealed that the synergic effect of UV and Zr addition generated a finer microstructure than either one alone when preparing the slurries. Rheo-squeeze casting could significantly refine the LPSO structure and ${\alpha}-Mg$ matrix in $Mg_{96.9}Zn_1Y_2Zr_{0.1}$ alloy without changing the phase compositions or the type of LPSO structure. When the squeeze pressure increased from 0 to 400 MPa, the block LPSO structure was completely eliminated and the average thickness of LPSO structure decreased from 9.8 to $4.3{\mu}m$. Under 400 MPa squeeze pressure, the tensile strength and elongation of the rheocast $Mg_{96.9}Zn_1Y_2Zr_{0.1}$ alloy reached the maximum values, which were 234 MPa and 17.6%, respectively, due to its fine ${\alpha}-Mg$ matrix (${\alpha}1-Mg$ and ${\alpha}2-Mg$ grains) and LPSO structure.