The effects of calcium and silicon on microstructure and aging characteristics of AZ91 magnesium alloy during T5 treatment was investigated. The addition of 0.88% calcium or 0.25% silicon to AZ91 alloy made dendrite cell smaller. Especially, silicon is more effectively acted as refinement of the dendrite cell than calcium. It is due to that precipitated at the dendrite cell boundary or in the matrix during T5 treatment of Si added AZ91 alloy retarded the growth of the secondary phase. In the mean while, without inducing the precipitates containing calcium, calcium was segregated mainly around secondary phase such as and partially dissolved in ternary eutectic (Mg-Al-Ca) structure. In the AZ91 alloy containing both silicon and calcium, more finely distributed in matrix homogeneously and much finer microstructure were obtained than those containing silicon or calcium. Hence, An AZ91 containing both silicon and calcium was more effective to retarding the growth of the secondary phase than the other AZ91 alloy such as AZ91 alloy containing silicon or AZ91 alloy containing calcium.
Keywords
AZ91 alloy; Aging characteristic; Effect of Ca; Si;