Peculiarities of the phase relations in Mg-rich alloys of the Mg-Nd-Y system

The decomposition at 250degreesC of the Mg supersaturated solid solution in the ternary Mg-Nd-Y system and in binary Mg-Nd and Mg-Y alloys was studied. The kinetics of precipitation in ternary Mg-Nd-Y alloys differs from the kinetics of precipitation in binary Mg-Nd and Mg-Y alloys. Precipitates with the same crystal structure form in a shorter ageing time in ternary Mg-Nd-Y alloys than in binary Mg-Y alloys. The change of volume and the kinetics of solid solution decomposition in the ternary Mg-Nd-Y alloys as compared with the binary ones suggest that there is a certain solubility of Y in the Nd-rich precipitates and of Nd in the Y-rich precipitates. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.