Influence of I-phase and W-phase on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-8Li-3Zn alloy

Microstructures and mechanical properties of LZ83-xY alloys containing I-phase and W-phase were investigated by XRD, OM, SEM and EDS. The experimental results show that the content of I-phase and W-phase changes by varying Zn/Y mass ratio in the LZ83-xY alloys. The cohesion of I-phase/alpha-Mg eutectic pockets can enhance the strength in the as-cast LZ83-0.5Y and LZ83-1.0Y alloys, while the W-phase has no obvious strengthening effect on the LZ83-1.5Y alloy. In the extruded alloys, the I-phase and W-phase were extruded into the particles with nanoscale size in the beta-Li matrix phase. The dispersion strengthening of W-phase was more obvious because of the higher volume fraction. The ultimate tensile strength of extruded LZ83-1.5Y alloy is up to 238 MPa while the elongation is up to 20%.