JP2010047777A - Mg-BASED ALLOY - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an Mg base alloy having not only a practically sufficient strength but good ductility at room temperature to an extent that it has hitherto been unable to be desired and having small anisotropy in strength characteristics. <P>SOLUTION: The Mg base alloy contains Ag in an amount of not more than 1.98 at.% as an additive material other than Zn. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a Mg-based alloy containing Mg as a main material, which is desired to be realized as a lightweight material replacing Al.

As for this Mg-based alloy, conventionally, various alloys shown in Patent Documents 1 to 8 below have been developed.
In Patent Documents 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8, rare earth elements, scandium, and lithium are added to improve the strength. However, since these rare earth elements are rare elements that are difficult to obtain on the earth, the price of the alloy increases, and the versatility decreases.
Patent Document 1 is a ternary alloy containing 0.3 to 3% by mass of Ca and simultaneously containing Al, Sr, and Mn. In such a case, a precipitate (crystallized product) is formed at the grain boundary of Mg, and in Patent Document 2, Zr is 0.3% or more and 1.0% or less, and 0.2% when Ca is contained. Mg alloy containing 2.0% or less. (% Is mass%)
The alloy of Patent Document 8 is an Mg alloy developed as a casting material containing 3 to 8 wt% Zn and 0.8 to 5 wt% Ca.

  In the course of the experiment of the present invention, it was found that due to the excessive Ca content, grain boundary precipitates were formed, resulting in low ductility at room temperature. In both cases 2 and 8, the ductility at room temperature becomes poor.

  The alloy of Patent Document 7 is an alloy developed as a cast material. Specifically, in a combination of zero or 0.5% by weight of Ca and 1% to 7% by weight of Zn and zero, When it is 0.5 wt% and Zn is zero, it has a 0.2% proof stress of less than 75 MPa, and when Zn is 1 to 7 wt%, it has a 0.2% proof stress of 75 MPa to less than 100 MPa. Indicates insufficient strength. In addition, regarding the ductility, there is no other way than to infer that those containing a high concentration of Ca are low based on the above findings obtained by the present inventors in the experiment of the present invention.

Patent Document 5 shows an Mg-based alloy mainly composed of Mn and Zn, and shows solution treatment in order to obtain high strength, but requires an additional heat treatment with two-stage aging. This has a problem that the process is complicated.
In Reference 8, an alloy to which Cu is added in an amount of 10% by weight or less is developed. However, the addition of Cu has a drawback that the corrosion resistance of the Mg alloy is remarkably lowered.

In short, most of the members using Mg alloys are currently manufactured by casting and die casting. In the future, it is expected that Mg alloys will be applied to transportation equipment such as automobiles and airplanes. However, the casting method makes the material structure coarse and lowers the ductility. There is a disadvantage that it cannot be applied. On the other hand, there are Mg-Al-Zn (AZ alloy) or Mg-Zn-Zr (ZK alloy) as practical Mg alloys for extension, but the strength of these extension Mg alloys is insufficient. In addition, the yield strength used for the strength design is greatly different between the case where a tensile load is applied and the case where a compressive load is applied due to the influence of the texture formed during hot working (compressive strength in a commercially available AZ31 alloy rolled material). Is about 50% of the tensile strength), so it is difficult to use as it is. In the past, in order to increase the strength of Mg alloys, methods of adding rare earth elements and adding a large amount of alloy elements have been employed.
However, since rare earth elements are expensive, their versatility is low, and the addition of a large amount of alloy elements is accompanied by the formation of a coarse compound phase, and there is a disadvantage that high strength is obtained but ductility is impaired. Accordingly, development of a new wrought Mg alloy that is free of rare earth elements and is excellent in strength and ductility by addition of an inexpensive alloy element is required.

JP2007-70688A JP 2006-28548 A JP 2006-16658 A JP 2005-113235 A Special table 2004-510057 JP2003-226929A JP 2002-212661 A JP-A-6-25791

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides an Mg-based alloy that has not only a sufficient strength for practical use but also a ductility at room temperature that is so good that it cannot be desired in the past and has low strength property anisotropy. The purpose is to provide.

  The Mg-based alloy of the invention 1 is characterized in that Ag is contained in an amount of 1.98 at% or less as an additive other than Zn.

  Invention 2 is characterized in that, in the Mg-based alloy described in Invention 1, Ca is further contained in an amount of 0.61 at% or less as an additive other than Zn and Ag.

  Invention 3 is characterized in that, in the Mg-based alloy described in Invention 2, Zr is further contained in an amount of 0.17 at% or less as an additive other than Zn, Ag and Ca.

  Invention 4 is characterized in that the crystal grain size of the Mg-based alloy according to any one of Inventions 1 to 3 is 0.1 μm to 10 μm.

According to Inventions 1 to 4, by adding only an inexpensive alloy element, it is possible to provide an Mg-based alloy that is superior in strength and ductility to the extent that both cannot be desired in the past and has low strength anisotropy. became.
Furthermore, since an alloy element such as Cu that impairs corrosion resistance is not used, excellent durability can be expected.

  The alloy of the present invention has an average Schmid factor in the bottom slip direction with respect to the load direction of 0.2 or more, and an existing AZ91 alloy (Mg-9 mass% Al-1 mass% Zn alloy) extruded material which is a practical Mg alloy Even in comparison, it has a uniform distribution of Schmid factors. That is, the alloy of the present invention is characterized in that the degree of integration of the bottom surface parallel to the extrusion direction is weak.

The alloy of the present invention has excellent mechanical properties such that the compressive strength is 75% or more of the tensile strength and the strength anisotropy is small.

From the following examples, it can be seen that in the present invention, age hardening is improved by adding a small amount of Ag, Ca, Zr, which are rare earth element-free and relatively easily available elements. In addition, it is a Mg-based alloy that forms a fine grain structure in which fine precipitates are dispersed just by hot extrusion of the alloy, has excellent strength as well as ductility, and has less strength anisotropy than conventional alloys. I understand.
Further, from the examples and technical common sense, it can be predicted that the above-described effects are exhibited in the following range.

Regarding Zn: The maximum solid solution amount of Zn in Mg is 2.4 at%.
If the composition range is 0.75 at% or more, age hardening is performed. To disperse the rod-shaped β ′ precipitates acting as the strengthening phase of the Mg—Zn alloy and increase the strength, the Zn content is It is necessary to increase it as much as possible, and 1.52 at% or more is preferable.
In order to disperse the rod-like β ′ precipitates in a larger amount and finer, it is preferably 1.92 at% or more.

About Ag: The solubility of Ag in Mg is large, and the maximum solid solution amount is 3.82 at%.
When the solution heat treatment after casting is performed at 400 ° C., if the Ag content exceeds 1.98 at%, coarse precipitates may be formed and the mechanical properties may be deteriorated.
If it exceeds 0.2 at%, the age hardening does not change much even if the addition amount is increased. Therefore, in order to prevent the compound phase formation with the constituent elements Zn, Ca and Zr, the content should be suppressed as much as possible. And the upper limit is preferably 0.2 at%.
Moreover, since it works to promote the nucleation of precipitates when it is 0.08 at% or more, the lower limit is preferably 0.08 at% or more.

About Ca: The maximum solid solution amount of Ca in Mg is 0.82 at%.
When the solution heat treatment after casting is performed at 400 ° C., if the Ca content exceeds 0.61 at%, coarse grain boundary precipitates are formed and the mechanical properties are impaired.
Therefore, the upper limit was made 0.61 at% or less.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of Example 1, no change is observed in the age-hardening characteristics even when the addition amount of Ca is doubled. Therefore, in order to prevent the formation of a compound phase with the constituent elements Zn, Ag, and Zr, the upper limit is preferably set to 0.2 at% in order to suppress the content as much as possible.
Moreover, since it works to promote the nucleation of precipitates when it is 0.08 at% or more, the lower limit is preferably 0.08 at% or more.

About Zr: The maximum solid solution amount of Zr in Mg is 1.04 at%.
However, if it exceeds 0.17 at%, a peritectic reaction is present at around 650 ° C., and a coarse precipitate is formed, so that it is set to 0.17 at% or less.
If it is 0.08 at% or more, fine precipitates or Zr atoms themselves are expected to suppress the grain coarsening in solution and hot extrusion, so the lower limit is made 0.08 at% or more. Is preferred.

  Based on the results of the following examples, the specific amount of each element as described above should be distributed so that the average grain size of the fine grain structure is as small as possible and the orientation of the grain is weakened. It becomes.

Each element was blended so as to have the alloy composition shown in Table 1, and melted in a high-frequency melting furnace using an iron crucible under an argon atmosphere.

After encapsulating the Pyrex tube with argon gas, homogenization heat treatment was performed at 340 ° C. for 48 hours.
The sample was cut, sealed in a Pyrex tube with argon gas, then melted at 400 ° C. for 1 h, and quenched in ice water.
Aged at 160 and 200 ° C using an oil bath.
The hardness by aging was measured with a Vickers hardness tester under the conditions of a load of 1 kg and a holding time of 15 seconds.
Tissue observation was performed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
Details of the experimental procedure are shown in FIG.

2 and 3 show the hardness change at 160 and 200 ° C aging.
From these figures, the maximum hardness is reached around 100 h at 160 ° C aging and around 10 h at 200 ° C aging.
Age hardening is improved by adding Ag, Ag + Ca, Ag + Ca + Zr to the Mg-2.3Zn alloy.
The highest hardness of the alloy obtained by adding Ag + Ca + Zr to the Mg-2.3Zn alloy is as high as 100 Hv.
In the Ag + Ca-added alloy, the aging hardness of the alloy in which each element addition amount is increased to 0.2 at% is examined.
However, no obvious difference in aging characteristics is observed even when the amount added is increased.

FIGS. 4 to 9 show the TEM structures at the peak aging stage in 160 ° C. aging of the respective alloys.
In any aging structure, a rod-like precipitate extending in the c-axis direction of Mg is observed.
By adding Ag, Ag + Ca, Ag + Ca + Zr to the Mg-2.3Zn alloy, the precipitates become fine.
This refinement of the precipitate is considered to be caused by an increase in peak age hardness.
In conclusion, good age-hardening properties can be obtained in an alloy to which Ag + Ca + Zr is added in combination.
For each of the alloys shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 8, the crystal grain size was measured by the intercept method (ASTM standard E112). The average crystal grain size is about 100 μm for the Mg-2.3Zn binary alloy shown in FIG. 4, about 50 μm for the Mg-2.3Zn-0.1Ag alloy shown in FIG. 5, and Mg-2.3Zn-0 shown in FIG. 0.1 Ag-0.1Ca alloy was about 50 μm, and Mg-2.3Zn-0.1Ag-0.1Ca-0.17Zr alloy shown in FIG.

Details of the experimental procedure are shown in FIG.
Alloy elements were blended so as to have the alloy composition shown in Table 1, and were melted and cast in a CO ₂ + SF ₆ mixed gas atmosphere.
Thereafter, homogenization heat treatment was performed at 350 ° C. for 48 hours while flowing Ar gas.
Thereafter, hot extrusion was performed at 300 and 350 ° C.
The conditions for hot extrusion were an extrusion ratio of 20 and a ram speed of 0.1 mm / s.
The extruded material was subjected to a solution treatment at 400 ° C. for 0.5 to 4 h, and an aging treatment was performed at temperatures of 160 and 200 ° C.
About the aged sample, the Vickers hardness measurement and the structure | tissue observation by TEM were performed.

11 and 12 show the aging curves of Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy at 160, 200 ° C.
When a comparison was made between the solution-treated material after casting and the material that was solution-treated after hot extrusion, the maximum hardness and age-hardening characteristics were almost the same.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show the aging curves of Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy at 160 and 200 ° C.
A comparison between the solution-treated material after casting and the material that was solution-treated after hot extrusion revealed no obvious differences in maximum hardness and age-hardening properties.

15 and 16 are TEM structures of Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy hot extruded at 350 ° C.
It can be seen from FIG. 15 that the fine grain structure has a crystal grain size of about 500 nm.
From FIG. 16, fine rod-like precipitates along the c-axis of Mg are observed in the crystal grains.
Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy and Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% which are excellent in age hardening A room temperature tensile test and a room temperature compression test were performed on the Zr alloy parallel to the extrusion direction.
The tensile test piece was a JIS 14B test piece and the distance between the gauge points was 20 mm.
The compression test piece had a diameter of 9.5 mm and a height of 14.3 mm.
The tensile test and the compression test were performed under conditions of an initial strain rate of 10 ⁻³ s ⁻¹ .

FIG. 17 (measurement data on which the data is based is shown in Table 2) shows the Schmid factor distribution in the direction of tensile load, that is, in the bottom slip direction relative to the extrusion direction. The Schmid factor distribution of the alloy of the present invention is uniformly distributed as compared with the existing AZ91 alloy (Mg-9 mass% Al-1 mass% Zn alloy) extruded material because the degree of accumulation of the bottom surface parallel to the extrusion direction is weak. The average value is 0.20 or more.

FIG. 18 (measurement data based thereon is shown in Tables 3 to 11) Room temperature of Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy extruded at 350 ° C. The stress-strain curve obtained by the tension test and the compression test is shown.
(Initial strain rate: 10 ⁻³ s ⁻¹ . Tensile test piece shape: JIS14B (distance between gauge points 20 mm), compression test piece shape: diameter 9.5 mm, height 14.3 mm)









Table 12 shows Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca and Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0 extruded at 300,350 ° C. This is a summary of the tensile test and compression test results for a 17% Zr alloy.
It can be seen from Table 12 that the 0.2% tensile strength is 290 MPa, the maximum tensile strength is 350 MPa, and the breaking elongation is 17%. The 0.2% compressive yield strength is 245 MPa, and the ratio to the tensile yield strength is 84%.

From these results, hot extruded Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca, Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0. It can be seen that the .17% Zr alloy is a material having both high strength and high ductility and low anisotropy in yield strength.
The expression of excellent mechanical properties with high strength and high ductility and low strength anisotropy is related to the decrease in the degree of accumulation of fine crystal grains, bottom texture, and fine precipitates in the grains. Conceivable.

The material of the present invention has high strength and high ductility, and can be used for transportation equipment such as automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and the like that are expected to be reduced in weight by replacement with Al members. Furthermore, since the mechanical properties of the material of the present invention can be obtained without the need for additional heat treatment after hot working, it is also expected as a member that replaces the currently used Mg alloy for extension. Further, since the sample after hot extrusion at 350 ° C. exhibits an ultrafine grain structure with an average crystal grain size of about 500 nm, it may be applied as a superplastic material.

Flow showing experimental procedure of Example 1 The graph which shows the age hardening curve in 160 degreeC of each alloy of Example 1. The graph which shows the age hardening curve in 200 degreeC of each alloy of Example 1. TEM micrograph of the peak aging stage of the Mg-2.3% Zn alloy of Example 1 aged at 160 ° C. TEM micrograph of the peak aging stage of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag alloy of Example 1 aged at 160 ° C. TEM micrograph of the peak aging stage of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy of Example 1 aged at 160 ° C. TEM structure of the peak aging stage of the g-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy of Example 1 aged at 160 ° C. High-magnification TEM photograph of Fig. 6 TEM micrograph of the peak aging stage of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy of Example 1 aged at 160 ° C. The TEM structure of the peak aging stage aged at 160 ° C. of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy of Example 1. High-magnification TEM photograph of Fig. 8 Flow showing experimental procedure of Example 2 It is an aging curve in 160 degreeC of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy of Example 2, Comprising: It heat-extruses with the material which carried out solution treatment after casting, and solution treatment. The graph which shows the comparison with the material which carried out 1h. FIG. 2 is an aging curve at 200 ° C. of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy of Example 2 after hot extrusion with a solution-treated material after casting and solution treatment. The graph which shows the comparison with the material which carried out 0.51 for 1 hour. It is an aging curve in 160 degreeC of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy of Example 2, Comprising: It is hot with the material which carried out solution treatment after casting. The graph which shows the comparison with the material which carried out solution treatment for 1 h after extrusion. FIG. 2 is an aging curve at 200 ° C. of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy of Example 2, which is hot between the material that has undergone solution treatment after casting. The graph which shows the comparison with the material which carried out solution treatment for 1 and 4 hours after extrusion. The TEM structure | tissue photograph extruded at 350 degrees C of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy of Example 2. FIG. 15 high magnification photo Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca alloy and Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr of Example 2 The distribution of the Schmid factor in the bottom slip direction relative to the tensile load direction of the sample extruded at 300 ° C. and 350 ° C. is more uniform than the 400 ° C. extruded material of the existing AZ91 alloy, and the accumulation of the bottom texture A graph showing that the degree is small. The stress-strain curve obtained by the room temperature tensile test and the compression test of the 350 ° C extruded material of the Mg-2.3% Zn-0.1% Ag-0.1% Ca-0.17% Zr alloy of Example 2 is shown. Graph showing.

Claims (4)

  A Mg-based alloy comprising Mg as a main material and Zn as an additive, wherein Ag is contained in an amount of 1.98 at% or less as an additive other than Zn.   2. The Mg-based alloy according to claim 1, further comprising 0.61 at% or less of Ca as an additive other than Zn and Ag.   The Mg-based alloy according to claim 2, wherein Zr is further contained in an amount of 0.17 at% or less as an additive other than Zn, Ag, and Ca.   4. The Mg-based alloy according to claim 1, wherein the crystal grain size is 0.1 μm to 10 μm. 5.