Enhancing compressive response of AZ31B magnesium alloy using alumina nanoparticulates

In the present study, AZ31B magnesium alloy was unified with three different volume percents (0.66%, 1.11% and 1.50%) of 50 nm-Al2O3 particulates using the technique of disintegrated melt deposition (DMD) followed by hot extrusion. Microstructural characterization studies revealed equiaxed grain structure, minimal porosity, reasonably uniform distribution of Al2O3 nano-particulates and good matrix-reinforcement interfacial integrity. The presence of nano-Al2O3 particulates significantly assisted in improving 0.2% compressive yield strength, ultimate compressive strength and work of fracture of AZ31B alloy while failure strain was mostly unchanged. Compressive deformation led to the formation of twins in both the monolithic and nano-composite samples. An attempt is made to correlate the effect of amount of Al2O3 nano-particulates on the microstructure and properties of AZ31B magnesium alloy. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.