• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.190-199
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• 2015

The study is intended to investigate the effect of solution treatment on microstructure and corrosion behavior of AZ91(Mg-9%Al-1%Zn-0.3%Mn)-2%Ca casting alloy. In as-cast state, the AZ91-2%Ca alloy consisted of intermetallic ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$, $Al_8Mn_5$ and $Al_2Ca$ phases in ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix. After the solution treatment, Al within the ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix was distributed more homogeneously, along with the slight decrease in the total amount of intermetallic compounds. The corrosion resistance of the AZ91-2%Ca alloy was improved after the solution treatment. The microstructural examinations for the solution-treated samples revealed that the better corrosion resistance may well be related to the incorporation of more oxides and hydroxides such as $Al_2O_3$, $Al(OH)_3$, CaO and $Ca(OH)_2$ into the surface corrosion product without dissolution of the intermetallic phases along the grain boundaries.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.231-236
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the microstructural characteristics and hardness distribution of AZ91 magnesium alloy furnace-cooled to room temperature after solution treatment, and to compare the results with those of as-cast condition. The as-cast alloy showed a partially divorced eutectic ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$ phase and discontinuous precipitates (DPs) with a lamellar morphology, while only DPs were observed in the furnace-cooled alloy. The DPs in the furnace-cooled AZ91 alloy had various apparent interlamellar spacings, which would be ascribed to the different transformation temperatures during the furnace cooling. The average hardness for the furnace-cooled alloy is similar to that for the as-cast alloy. It is interesting to note that the hardness values of the furnace-cooled alloy were distributed over a narrower range than those of the as-cast alloy. This is likely to be caused by the relatively more homogeneous microstructure of the furnace-cooled alloy in comparison with the ascast one.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.131-134
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• 2007

[ $SF_6$ ] gas that is used as a protective cover gas for Mg and Mg alloys during melting and casting has extremely high greenhouse effect. CaO added Mg alloys could maintain their original mechanical properties and original abilities such as fluidity and hot tearing susceptibility. The ignition temperature increased with increasing CaO addition under ambient atmosphere and nitrogen atmosphere. The minimum amount of $SF_6$ gas decreased by 0.13 wt%CaO added AZ91D Mg alloy in the sealed condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.593-600
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• 2012

Thixomolding of Mg-alloy is a semi-solid injection molding process utilizing thixotropic phenomenon. Using this process, higher strength, thinner wall section and tighter tolerance without porosity are obtained. It has been applied for production of near-net-shape magnesium component. To design optimal thixomolding process of Mg-alloy part, molding conditions such as slurry temperature, mold temperature and injection time should be determined properly. Selection of these parameters has been dependent upon engineers' experience and intuitiveness. In this paper, to improve mechanical properties of the thixomolded product, optimal selection of process variables such as injection velocity, barrel temperature and die temperature in the process has been studied through microstructural analysis and Taguchi method. Performance of the process is verified through experiments.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.609-616
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• 2019

Oxide coatings are formed on die-cast AZ91D Mg alloy through an environmentally friendly plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO) process using an electrolytic solution of $NaAlO_2$, KOH, and KF. The effects of PEO condition with different duty cycles (10 %, 20 %, and 40 %) and frequencies(500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz) on the crystal phase, composition, microstructure, and micro-hardness properties of the oxide coatings are investigated. The oxide coatings on die-cast AZ91D Mg alloy mainly consist of MgO and $MgAl_2O_4$ phases. The proportion of each crystalline phase depends on various electrical parameters, such as duty cycle and frequency. The surfaces of oxide coatings exhibit as craters of pancake-shaped oxide melting and solidification particles. The pore size and surface roughness of the oxide coating increase considerably with increase in the number of duty cycles, while the densification and thickness of oxide coatings increase progressively. Differences in the growth mechanism may be attributed to differences in oxide growth during PEO treatment that occur because the applied operating voltage is insufficient to reach breakdown voltage at higher frequencies. PEO treatment also results in the oxide coating having strong adhesion properties on the Mg alloy. The micro-hardness at the cross-section of oxide coatings is much higher not only compared to that on the surface but also compared to that of the conventional anodizing oxide coatings. The oxide coatings are found to improve the micro-hardness with the increase in the number of duty cycles, which suggests that various electrical parameters, such as duty cycle and frequency, are among the key factors controlling the structural and physical properties of the oxide coating.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.283-283
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• 1999

In the present study, the effect of microporosity on the tensile properties of as-cast AZ91D magnesium alloy was investigated through experimental observation and numerical prediction. The test specimens were fabricated by die-casting and gravity-casting. For gravity-casting, the inoculation and use of various metallic moulds were applied to obtain a wide range of microporosity. The deficiency of the interdendritic feeding of the liquid phase acted as d dominant mechanism on the formation of the micropores in the Mg-Al-alloys, rather than the evolution of hydrogen gas. Although tensile strength and elongation has a nonlinear and very intensive dependence upon microporosity, the yield strength appeared to have a linear relationship with microporosity. However, it was possible to quantitatively estimate the linear contribution of microporosity on the individual tensile property far a range of microporosity, which was below about B %. The numerical prediction suggests that the effect of microporosity on fractured strength and elongation decreased as the strain hardening exponent increased. Furthermore. the shape and distribution of micropores may play a more dominant role than local plastic deformation on the tensile behavior of AZ9lD alloy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.7
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• pp.715-723
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• 1999

Magnesium has been used as wheel materials in the automotive industry for more than 20 years. The magnesium wheels, which are lighter by 25% than aluminum wheels, provide easy controllability providing excellent road holding by the reduction of weight. The purpose of this work is to develop cast AZ91D alloy wheel by sand cast and permanent mold cast. The fluxless melting with the protective gas $(SF_6+CO_2)$ was Performed to eliminate oxidation of melt and impurity. The transfer of molten magnesium to the mold was done by using gas-pressurized Pump system through the heated pipe. The mechanical properites of AZ91D alloy wheel were investigated as a function of heat treatment, ingot composition.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.220-230
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of solution treatment on the microstructure and corrosion behavior of cast AZ91-4%RE magnesium alloy. In the as-cast state, microstructure of the AZ91-4%RE alloy was characterized by intermetallic ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$, $Al_{11}RE_3$ and $Al_2RE$ phase particles distributed in ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix. After solution treatment, the ${\beta}$ particles with low melting point dissolved into the matrix, but Al-RE phases still remained due to their high thermal stabilities. It was found from the immersion and potentiodynamic polarization tests that corrosion rate of the AZ91-4%RE alloy increased after the solution treatment. On the contrary, EIS tests and EDS compositional analyses on the surface corrosion products indicated that the stability of the corrosion product was improved after the solution treatment. Examinations on the corroded microstructures for the ascast and solution-treated samples revealed that dissolution of the ${\beta}$ particles which play a beneficial role in suppressing corrosion propagation, would be responsible for the deterioration of corrosion resistance after the solution treatment. This result implies that the microstructural features such as amount, size and distribution of secondary phases that determine corrosion mechanism, are more influential on the corrosion rate in comparison with the stability of surface corrosion product.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.272-276
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• 2006

For the first time AZ91 (MgAl9Zn1) and AM60 (MgAl6) Mg alloy foams with homogeneous pore structures were prepared successfully via melting foaming method by using $CaCO_3$ powder as blowing agent. The possible foaming mechanisms and pore structures of these Mg alloy foams were discussed and investigated. The results show that Mg alloy melt can affect $CaCO_3$ decomposition behavior and AZ91 Mg alloy is relative easy to be foamed into metal foam with high porosity and big pore size.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.516-521
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• 2002

A study was carried out to grow an understanding of the microstructural development of friction stir welds on an AZ91D magnesium alloy, and to evaluate the mechanical properties of the welds. AZ91D plates with the thickness of 4mm were used, and the microstructural development of the weld zone was investigated using optical and scanning electron microscopes. Square butt welding joint with good quality was obtained at the conditions of under 187mm/min of travel speed with 1100 to 1250 rpm of tool rotation speed. The microstructure within the weld region consisted of fine equiaxed grains with no evidence of the original dendritic structure. The hardness tests showed slightly increased harness in the weld region, and the minimum hardness measured is in that of the parent material. Tensile strength of the weld zone was remarkably improved due to very fine recrystallized structure. XRD pattern of weld zone revealed the removal of $\beta$ intermetallic compounds, $Mg_{17}$Al$_{12}$, which had been distributed in the base metal.l.