An investigation into the dissolution characteristics of γ precipitates in Mg-3Al-Zn alloy

In non-equilibrium conditions, the coring phenomena may occur in the α-Mg solid solution and γ-Mg17Al12 phase forms in the microstructure of AZ magnesium alloy series. This eutectic phase may introduce detrimental effect on workability of wrought alloys. In the present work, the dissolution characteristics of γ phase have been investigated in AZ31 wrought magnesium alloy. Considering the eutectic temperature of AZ31 alloy, the homogenization treatment was executed in temperature range of 300-437 ºC (i.e., somewhat below eutectic melting temperature of γ precipitate) and 437-500 ºC (i.e., higher eutectic melting temperature of γ precipitate) for different durations. A thorough microstructural investigation and also thermodynamic calculations were executed. The results indicated that the dissolution rate of γ phase is very low even at temperatures just below the eutectic point of the alloy, whereas it dramatically increases at temperatures higher than eutectic point. Moreover, it is suggested that partial melting of γ phase due to eutectic melting reaction (α+γ→L) may lead to reduced formability.