Mg-4.3Zn-0.7Y (at%) alloy powders were prepared using an industrial scale gas atomizer, followed by warm extrusion. The powders were almost spherical in shape. The microstructure of atomized powders and those extruded bars was examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscope (EDS) and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). The grain size of the powders was coarsen as the initial powder size increased. After the extrusion, the grain size became fine due to the severe plastic deformation during the extrusion with the ratio of 10:1. Both the ultimate strength and elongation were enhanced with the decrease of initial particle size.

In the development of new hydrogen absorbing materials for a next generation of metal hydride electrodes for rechargeable batteries, metastable Mg-Ni-based compounds find currently special attention. Amor phous-nanocrystalline and alloys were produced by mechanical alloying and melt-spinning and characterized by means of XRD, TEM and DSC. On basis of mechanically alloyed Mg-Ni-Y powders, complex hydride electrodes were fabricated and their electrochemical behaviour in 6M KOH (pH=14,8) was investigated. The electrodes made from powders, which were prepared under use of a SPEX shaker mill, with a major fraction of nanocrystalline phase reveal a higher electrochemical activity far hydrogen reduction and a higher maximum discharge capacity (247 mAh/g) than the electrodes from alloy powder with predominantly amorphous microstructure (216 mAh/g) obtained when using a Retsch planetary ball mill at low temperatures. Those discharge capacities are higher that those fur nanocrystalline electrodes. However, the cyclic stability of those alloy powder electrodes was low. Therefore, fundamental stability studies were performed on and ribbon samples in the as-quenched state and after cathodic hydrogen charging by means of anodic and cathodic polarisation measurements. Gradual oxidation and dissolution of nickel governs the anodic behaviour before a passive state is attained. A stabilizing effect of higher fractions of yttrium in the alloy on the passivation was detected. During the cathodic hydrogen charging process the alloys exhibit a change in the surface state chemistry, i.e. an enrichment of nickel-species, causing preferential oxidation and dissolution during subsequent anodization. The effect of chemical pre-treatments in 1% HF and in solution on the surface degradation processes was investigated. A HF treatment can improve their anodic passivation behavior by inhibiting a preferential nickel oxidation-dissolution at low polarisation, whereas a treatment has the opposite effect. Both pre-treatment methods lead to an enhancement of cathodically induced surface degradation processes.

Mg-Zn-RE alloys had a novel lond period stacking ordered (LPO) structure. Their rapidly solidified powder metallurgy (RS P/M) alloys exhibited a combination of high strength and god ductility (tensile yield strength above 550 MPa and elongation above 5%). The LPO Mg-Zn-RE RS P/M alloys had high elevated temperature strength (tensile yield strength above 380 MPa at 473 K) and exhibited a high-strain-rate superplasticity at higher temperatures. In Japan, a national project for developing high strength LPO Mg-Zn-RE RS P/M alloys has started at 2003 for 5 years, which is founded by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. In the national project, project targets in materials performances have been achieved. The developed LPO Mg-Zn-RE RS P/M alloys exhibited higher tensile yield strength, fatigue strength and corrosion resistance than high strength aluminum alloys of extra-super-duralumin (7075-T6).

alloy powders were prepared using an industrial scale gas atomizer, followed by warm extrusion. The powders were almost spherical in shape. The microstructure of powders as atomized and bars as extruded was examined as a function of initial powder size distribution using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscope (EDS) and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). The grain sizes were decreased with extruding as well as decreasing the initial powder sizes. Both the ultimate strength and elongation were enhanced as the initial powder sizes were decreased.

Study about the feasibility and effect of high-energy ball milling on a specific Mg alloy under protection medium of alcohol was presented via comparing with conventional vacuum milling. More fine particles with wider powder size distribution but more irregular shape were shown of the powder milled under alcohol. No obvious oxide was revealed from the two kinds of Mg alloy powders with limited milling time. And since slip induced in a preferential direction, the (002) texture was formed in the Mg alloy powders at the initial stage of alcohol milling. More O and Fe contaminants were introduced into the powders milled under alcohol according to the EDS analysis.

Rapidly solidified ribbon-consolidation processing was applied for preparation of high strength bulk Mg-Zn-Gd alloys. Mg alloys have been used in automotive and aerospace industries. Rapid solidification (RS) process is suitable for the development of high strength Mg alloys, because the process realizes grain-refinement, increase in homogeneity, and so on. Recently, several nanocrystalline Mg-Zn-Y alloys with high specific tensile strength and large elongation have been developed by rapidly solidified powder metallurgy (RS P/M) process. Mg-Zn-Y RS P/M alloys are characterized by long period ordered (LPO) structure and sub-micron fine grains. The both additions of rare earth elements and zinc remarkably improved the mechanical properties of RS Mg alloys. Mg-Zn-Gd alloy also forms LPO structure in -Mg matrix coherently, therefore, it is expected that the RS Mg-Zn-Gd alloys have excellent mechanical properties. In this study, we have developed high strength RS Mg-Zn-Gd alloys with LPO structure and nanometer-scale precipitates by RS ribbon-consolidation processing. and and bulk alloys exhibited high tensile yield strength (470 MPa and 525 MPa and 566 MPa) and large elongation (5.5% and 2.8% and 2.4%).

Fabrication of bulk alloy has been performed through the consolidation of rapidly solidified ribbons. The bulk alloy exhibited excellent mechanical properties, high tensile yield strength of 530 MPa, and large elongation of 3 %. Microstructure of the alloy was characterized by equiaxed fine grains that consist of -Mg, long period ordered (LPO) structure phase, and -type cubic compound. The strengthening of the alloys may be due to fine grains with LPO structure phase and -type compound.

Compositional dependence of corrosion behavior of rapidly solidified Mg-rich Mg-Zn-Y alloys in NaCl aqueous solution has been investigated. Mg-Zn-Y ternary alloys containing small amounts of Zn exhibited low corrosion rate, although the (at. %) binary alloy showed severe corrosion with violet evolution of hydrogen. The alloy with highest corrosion-resistance was , its corrosion rate was about 1 mm year-1 in 0.17 M (1.0 wt. %) NaCl solution. alloy exhibited passive region in anodic polarization curves when immersed in NaCl solution. Rapidly solidification and small amount of Zn addition may bring about an increase in electrochemical homogeneity of Mg-Zn-Y alloys, resulting in enhancement of corrosion resistance.

The microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy prepared by spark plasma sintering of gas atomized powders have been investigated. After consolidation, precipitates were observed to form in the solid solution matrix of the alloy. These precipitates consisted of and phases. The density of the consolidated bulk Mg-Zn-Y alloy was . The ultimate tensile strength and elongation were dependent on the consolidation temperature, which were in the ranges of 280 to 293 MPa and 8.5 to 20.8 %, respectively.

Two atomized alloy powders were pre-compacted by cold and subsequently hot forged at temperatures ranging from 653K to 845K. The addition of Cu and Mg causes a decrease in the eutectic reaction temperature of Al-10Si-5Fe-1Zr alloy from 841K to 786K and results in a decrease of flow stress at the given forging temperature. TEM observation revealed that in addition to Al-Fe based intermetallics, Al2Cu and Al2CuMg intermetallics appeared. The volume fraction of intermetallic dispersoids increased by the addition of Cu and Mg. Compressive strength of the present alloys was closely related to the volume fraction of intermetallic dispersoids.

Mg55Y15Cu30 metallic glass powders were prepared by the mechanical alloying of pure Mg, Y, and Cu after 10 h of milling. The thermal stability of these Mg55Y15Cu30 amorphous powders was investigated using the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Tg ,Tx , and ΔTx are 442 K, 478 K, and 36 K, respectively. The as-milled Mg55Y15Cu30 powders were then consolidated by vacuum hot pressing into disk compacts with a diameter and thickness of 10 mm and 1 mm, respectively. This yielded bulk Mg55Y15Cu30 metallic glass with nanocrystalline precipitates homogeneously embedded in a highly dense glassy matrix. The pressure applied during consolidation can enhance thermal stability and prolong the existence of amorphous phase within Mg55Y15Cu30 powders.

The composite used in this paper was prepared by hot-pressing ball-milled Mg alloy powders, in which NiTi shape memory alloy fibers in a row were sandwiched. The microstructure and property were examined. It is shown that the composite consisted of a homogenous matrix with uniformly distributed NiTi shape memory alloy fibers, recrystallization took place in the Mg alloy matrix which was subjected to plastic deformation an adequate bonding formed between the matrix and fibers; the density and tensile strength of the composite increased after the hot-forging; the hot-forging process is capable of improving properties of the composite.

Solid-state processing via the bulk mechanical alloying enables us to directly fabricate Mg2X semi-conductive material performs. Precise control of chemical composition leads to investigation on the dilution and enrichment of X in Mg2X. Two types of solid-state reactivity are introduced: e.g. synthesis of Mg2Si from elemental mixture Mg – Si is nucleation-controlled process while synthesis of Mg2Sn from Mg – Sn, diffusion-controlled process. Thermoelectricity of these Mg2X is evaluated for discussion on the validity and effectiveness of this new PM route as a reliable tool for fabrication of thermoelectric compounds.

Hydrogen, in even small quantities, is extremely deleterious to the sintering of aluminium. Understanding the cause of this effect is complicated by the multiple interactions that occur in multi-component systems. In this work, we examine the sintering rsponse of Al-2Mg (a simplified system) in pure nitrogen and nitrogen-hydrogen using dilatometry, differential scanning calorimetery, thermogravimetry and metallography.

The corrosion performance of a powder metallurgical aluminum alloy in aeronautical environments was studied for both as sintered and heat treated states. Sintered samples were obtained by uniaxial pressing of an Al-Cu-Mg prealloyed powder followed by liquid phase sintering. The heat treatments applied were T4 and T6. Corrosion behaviour was assessed by means of potentiodynamic polarization. Results for the equivalent commercial wrought counterpart, AA2024-T3, are also presented for comparison. Similar corrosion performance was observed for both as sintered and AA2024-T3 samples, while corrosion resistance of the PM materials was improved by the heat treatment, especially in the T4 state.

In the present work, the sintering behavior of high strength Al-5.6Zn-2.5Mg-1.6Cu (in wt.%) alloy compacts prepared from elemental powders was investigated. Microstructural evaluation was accompanied by XRD and DSC methods in order to determine the temperature and chemical composition of the liquid phases formed during sintering. It was found that three transient liquid phases are formed at 420, 439 and 450 . Microstructural study revealed the progressive formation of sintered contacts due to the presence of the liquid phases, although the green compact expands as a result of the melt penetration along the grain boundaries. While Zn melts at , the intermetallic phases formed between Al and Mg were found to be responsible for the formation of liquid phase and the dimensional change at higher temperatures.

The increasing demand for automotive industries to reduce the weight of the vehicles has led to a growing usage of Al alloy powder metallurgy (P/M) parts. In order to control the sintered microstructure and mechanical properties of the aluminium alloy powder metallurgical (P/M) parts, it is essential to establish a fundamental understanding of the microstructural development during the sintering process. This paper presents a detailed study of the effect of temperature and initial starting materials on the evolution of microstructure during the sintering of Al-Cu-Mg-Si blends for PM.