Effects of Annealing Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Magnesium Alloy Sheets

The microstructure of magnesium alloy sheets (nominal composition Mg–6Zn–Y in at. %) was investigated with the Optical Microscope (OM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) technique after the annealing treatment. Tensile test at room temperature was performed to show the influence of annealing treatment on mechanical properties. Experimental results indicate that there are a large number of twin crystals appearing in microstructure of the extruded Mg-Zn-Y alloy sheet at 350 °C. The distinct icosahedral phase appears on the α-Mg matrix in granular form and the strength gets largely improved to the maximum. The uniform distribution of isometric crystal contributes to the best elongation at the annealing temperature of 400 °C.