Ultrahigh specific strength in a magnesium alloy strengthened by spinodal decomposition

TZ Xin and YH Zhao and R Mahjoub and JX Jiang and A Yadav and K Nomoto and RM Niu and S Tang and F Ji and Z Quadir and D Miskovic and J Daniels and WQ Xu and XZ Liao and LQ Chen and K Hagihara and XY Li and S Ringer and M Ferry, SCIENCE ADVANCES, 7, eabf3039 (2021).

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf3039

Strengthening of magnesium (Mg) is known to occur through dislocation accumulation, grain refinement, deformation twinning, and texture control or dislocation pinning by solute atoms or nano-sized precipitates. These modes generate yield strengths comparable to other engineering alloys such as certain grades of aluminum but below that of high-strength aluminum and titanium alloys and steels. Here, we report a spinodal strengthened ultralightweight Mg alloy with specific yield strengths surpassing almost every other engineering alloy. We provide compelling morphological, chemical, structural, and thermodynamic evidence for the spinodal decomposition and show that the lattice mismatch at the diffuse transition region between the spinodal zones and matrix is the dominating factor for enhancing yield strength in this class of alloy.

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