The corrosion behaviour of a novel Mg-Zn-Zr-Y-Cu alloy

A novel Mg-Zn-Zr-Y-Cu alloy was fabricated, and its corrosion behaviour was investigated in the present work. The results showed that, compared with Mg-6Zn-0.5Zr (ZK60) alloy, Mg-6Zn-1Y-0.5Cu-0.5Zr (ZWCK6100) alloy exhibited finer recrystallised (DRXed) and unDRXed grains, more homogeneous microstructure, and contained CuMgZn and I phase (Mg3Zn6Y) in addition to alpha-Mg, Zn2Zr, MgZn2 precipitates. As a result, ZWCK6100 alloy had a lower corrosion rate and higher corrosion resistance, underwent slightly localised corrosion in 3.5 wt-% NaCl solution, implying that the combined addition of Y and Cu was conducive to improving the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys.

Automated summary

A novel Mg-Zn-Zr-Y-Cu alloy was fabricated and its corrosion behavior was investigated. The ZWCK6100 alloy exhibited finer grain size, more uniform microstructure, and contained additional CuMgZn and I phase (Mg3Zn6Y) compared to the ZK60 alloy. As a result, the ZWCK6100 alloy showed lower corrosion rate, higher corrosion resistance, and slightly localized corrosion in 3.5 wt-% NaCl solution, indicating that the combined addition of Y and Cu improved the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys.