Effect of aging time and temperature on the aging behavior in Sn containing AZ91 alloy

Effects of aging temperature and time on the aging behavior in AZ91 alloy and Sn containing AZ91 alloy (AZT915) have been investigated in the present study. The mode of precipitation, i.e. discontinuous and continuous precipitation in both alloys is strongly affected by the aging temperature. At low aging temperature of 403 K, only discontinuous precipitation occurs at the grain boundaries, whereas at high aging temperatures of 573 and 623 K only continuous precipitation occurs inside the grains. At intermediate temperature range (443 or 498 K) both discontinuous and continuous precipitation reactions occur. In AZT915, the Mg₂Sn particles at the grain boundary effectively reduce the available nucleation sites for discontinuous β precipitates, and slow down the movement of the grain boundary, resulting in suppression of discontinuous precipitation. In addition, increased local lattice strain by the presence of Sn in the α-Mg solid solution matrix accelerates the nucleation of the continuous precipitates at the early stage of aging treatment. Therefore, significantly higher peak hardness can be obtained within a shorter aging time in AZT915.