K.U. Kainer

Magnesium alloys as implant materials--principles of property design for Mg-RE alloys.

Magnesium alloys have attracted increasing interest in the past years due to their potential as implant materials. This interest is based on the fact that magnesium and its alloys are degradable during their time of service in the human body. Moreover magnesium alloys offer a property profile that is very close or even similar to that of human bone. The chemical composition triggers the resulting microstructure and features of degradation. In addition, the entire manufacturing route has an influence on the morphology of the microstructure after processing. Therefore the composition and the manufacturing route have to be chosen carefully with regard to the requirements of an application. This paper discusses the influence of composition and heat treatments on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of cast Mg-Gd alloys. Recommendations are given for the design of future degradable magnesium based implant materials.

Microstructure and corrosion behavior of Mg-Sn-Ca alloys after extrusion

Abstract Mg-Sn-Ca alloys promise a reasonable corrosion resistance in combination with good creep resistance, likely due to the presence of Ca 2− x Mg x Sn and other phases. The selected alloys with 3% Sn and Ca in the range of 1%–2% have been extruded in order to achieve more homogeneous microstructure compared with the as-cast alloys. Optical microscopy(OM) and X-ray diffraction(XRD) techniques were used to study the microstructure and phases of these alloys. The corrosion behavior of these alloys was investigated by means of salt spray test and potentio-dynamic measurements. The results obtained on the alloys Mg-3Sn (T3), Mg-3Sn-1Ca (TX31), and Mg-3Sn-2Ca (TX32) indicate the presence of the same phases in as-cast and after extrusion, namely Mg 2 Sn, Ca 2− x Mg x Sn, and Ca 2− x Mg x Sn/Mg 2 Ca, respectively. However, due to the occurrence of extensive recrystallization in the extrusion process, the grain size has significantly reduced after extrusion. The reduction leads to the improvement of the corrosion resistance after extrusion which is then comparable with the commercial alloy AZ91D.

Microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties of Mg-Dy-Gd-Zr alloys for medical applications.

In previous investigations, a Mg-10Dy (wt.%) alloy with a good combination of corrosion resistance and cytocompatibility showed great potential for use as a biodegradable implant material. However, the mechanical properties of Mg-10Dy alloy are not satisfactory. In order to allow the tailoring of mechanical properties required for various medical applications, four Mg-10(Dy+Gd)-0.2Zr (wt.%) alloys were investigated with respect to microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties. With the increase in Gd content, the number of second-phase particles increased in the as-cast alloys, and the age-hardening response increased at 200°C. The yield strength increased, while the ductility reduced, especially for peak-aged alloys with the addition of Gd. Additionally, with increasing Gd content, the corrosion rate increased in the as-cast condition owing to the galvanic effect, but all the alloys had a similar corrosion rate (~0.5 mm year(-1)) in solution-treated and aged condition.

Influence of composition on hot tearing in binary Mg–Zn alloys

Abstract Mg–Zn alloys have a large freezing zone, and their susceptibility to hot tearing is high. Investigations on their hot tearing are necessary for both materials science and practical applications. The present work evaluates the susceptibility of hot tearing of Mg–Zn alloy using Clyne and Davies’s modelling combined with thermodynamic calculations. In order to compare with the calculated results, the susceptibility of hot tearing was measured using previously developed quantitative experimental method. It is found that the simulation results are in agreement with the experimental results. Both of them show that the curves of the susceptibility of hot tearing versus the content of Zn has a typical ‘Λ’ shape. With increasing content of Zn, the susceptibility of hot tearing first increases, reaches the maximum at 2–4%Zn and then decreases again. Experimental investigations also demonstrate that the hot tearing susceptibility decreases with increasing initial mould temperature.

Hot tearing behaviour of binary Mg–1Al alloy using a contraction force measuring method

Abstract Hot tearing (or hot cracking) is recognised in the foundry industry as a serious defect. Although it has been investigated for decades, understanding still stands at a qualitative level. In this work, investigations on hot tearing in the binary Mg–1Al (wt-%) alloy have been conducted, using a contraction stress measuring method which shows evidence of good repeatability. The results show that increasing mould temperature decreases hot tearing susceptibility for Mg–1Al due to a decreased cooling rate. The recorded contraction force curves also show that hot cracks initiate under all investigated mould temperatures; however, the crack propagation behaves differently. At lower mould temperatures, the crack propagates very fast, while at higher mould temperatures it propagates slowly. This indicates that a lower cooling rate allows a better chance for the retained liquid to refill the crack. Consequently this leads to partial or complete interruption of crack propagation.

Analysis of thermal cycling curves of short fibre reinforced Mg-MMCs

Thermal cycling curves of QE22 based Mg alloy reinforced with Maftech, Saffil and Supertech short fibres are analysed to decipher the intrinsic material behaviour after weaning out the artefacts from the instrument. Coefficient of thermal expansion, temperature at which deviation from elastic behaviour occurs and strain contribution due to plastic deformation or thermal relaxation is evaluated. These evaluations are justified with the help of theoretical calculations by existing models.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg–Sn–Ca alloys and effect of alloying elements

Abstract The effect of Sn, Ca, Al, Si and Zn addition on the compressive strength of cast Mg–Sn–Ca (TX) alloys was studied in the temperature range of 25–250 °C and correlated with the microstructure. The Sn to Ca mass ratio up to 2.5 contributes to the formation of Mg 2 Ca phase at the grain boundaries and CaMgSn in the matrix, while a ratio of 3 gives only CaMgSn phase mostly in the matrix. While the compressive strength decreases with the increase in temperature, for Sn/Ca up to 2.5, a plateau occurs in 100–175 °C, which is attributed to the strengthening by Mg 2 Ca. However, for ratio of 3, the strength is lower and decreases more gradually. Mg–3Sn–2Ca (TX32) has the highest strength and the addition of 0.4% Al increases its strength but simultaneous addition of Si lowers the strength. Likewise, the addition of Zn improves its strength but simultaneous addition of Al slightly decreases the strength. The results are correlated with the types of intermetallic phases that form in various alloys.

Measurement and calculation of the viscosity of metals—a review of the current status and developing trends

Viscosity is an important rheological property of metals in casting because it controls the rate of transport of liquid metals, which may lead to casting defects such as hot tearing and porosity. The measurement methods and numerical models of the viscosity of liquid and semi-solid state metals that have been published to date are reviewed in this paper. Most experimental measurements have been performed with rotational and oscillatory viscometers, which offer advantages at low viscosities in particular. Besides these two traditional methods for measuring viscosities, a couple of studies also introduced the technique of isothermal compression for alloys in the semi-solid state, and even an optical basicity method for the viscosity of slags. As to numerical models, most published results show that the viscosity of liquid and semi-solid state metals can be described by the Arrhenius, Andrade, Kaptay or Budai–Bemkő–Kaptay equations. In addition, there are some alternative models, such as the power model and the isothermal stress–strain model.

Compressive strength and hot deformation mechanisms in as-cast Mg-4Al-2Ba-2Ca (ABaX422) alloy

The behaviour of an as-cast ABaX422 Mg alloy has been evaluated with regard to its compressive strength in the temperature range 25–250 °C and hot working characteristics in the range 260–500 °C. The microstructure of the as-cast alloy has intermetallic phases Mg17Ba2 and (Al, Mg)2Ca at the grain boundaries and is fine grained. The alloy has compressive strength better than AZ31 with Ca and Zn, which was attributed to the finer grain size. A processing map developed to characterize its hot working behaviour revealed two dynamic recrystallization domains in the temperature and strain rate ranges of (1) 300–390 °C/0.0003–0.001 s−1 and (2) 400–500 °C/0.0003–0.5 s−1. In the first domain, basal + prismatic slip occurs along with recovery by climb while in the second domain, second-order pyramidal slip dominates and recovery occurs by cross-slip. The apparent activation energy estimated in Domains 1 and 2 are 169 and 263 kJ/mol respectively, both being higher than that for self-diffusion suggesting that the intermetallic particles in the matrix cause considerable back stress. Bulk metal working of this alloy may be done in Domain 2 which ensures high workability while finish working may be done in Domain 1 in order to achieve a fine grained component. The alloy exhibits flow instability regimes at higher strain rates, in both the lower and higher temperature regions of the processing map, the manifestation being adiabatic shear band formation and flow localization respectively.

Comparative study of microstructure and texture of cast and homogenized TX32 magnesium alloy after hot deformation

The effect of homogenization on the hot deformation behavior and texture evolution of Mg-3Sn-2Ca (TX32) alloy is investigated. The cast-homogenized alloy samples were hot compressed in the temperature and strain rate ranges of 300–500 °C and 0.0003–10 s−1, respectively, and a processing map has been developed by using the flow stress data. The map revealed two dynamic recrystallization (DRX) domains with a peak efficiency of 44% at 360 °C/0.0003 s−1 (Domain 1) and 43% at 485 °C/0.1 s−1 (Domain 2). When compared with the map for as-cast condition, it is observed that both the domains moved towards higher temperatures although the shift of Domain 1 is more noticeable. The apparent activation energy values in the two domains and the regime of flow instability are nearly unchanged by homogenization, suggesting that Mg2Ca and CaMgSn particles in the microstructure are thermally stable. Specimens deformed under conditions in Domain 1 have high Schmid factors for {0001}