Hot tearing behaviors and in-situ thermal analysis of Mg-7Zn-xCu-0.6Zr alloys

Thermal analysis was used to investigate the microstructural evolution of Mg-7Zn-xCu-0.6Zr alloys during solidification. The effect of Cu content (0, 1, 2 and 3, mass fraction, %) on the hot tearing behavior of the Mg-7Zn-xCu-0.6Zr alloys was investigated with a constrained rod casting (CRC) apparatus, equipped with a load sensor and a data acquisition system. The thermal analysis results of Mg-7Zn-xCu-0.6Zr alloy revealed that the alloy consisted of two distinct phases: alpha-Mg and MgZn2 Three distinct peaks were observed in the alloys with Cu addition, which were identified as alpha-Mg, MgZnCu and MgZn2. In addition, the reaction temperature of alpha-Mg decreased and the reaction temperatures of MgZn2 and MgZnCu increased as the Cu content increased. The experimental results of hot tearing demonstrated that the addition of Cu significantly reduced the hot tearing susceptibility (HTS) of Mg-7Zn-xCu-0.6Zr alloys due to the higher eutectic temperature and the shorter solidification temperature region.