Influence of Process Parameters on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Friction-Stir-Processed Mg-Gd-Y-Zr Casting

Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr (wt pct) casting was subjected to friction stir processing (FSP) at a constant rotation rate of 800 rpm and varied travel speeds of 25, 50, and 100 mm/minute. FSP resulted in the generation of fine-grained microstructure and fundamental dissolution of coarse Mg-5(Gd,Y) phase at the grain boundaries, thereby enhancing the tensile properties significantly at both room and elevated temperatures. The grain size of the FSP samples decreased with the increasing travel speed, whereas the microstructure heterogeneity with the banded structure (onion rings) became evident at a higher travel speed. Tensile elongation of the FSP samples increased as the travel speed increased, whereas the highest strengths were obtained at the medium travel speed of 50 mm/minute. Higher strengths and greater elongations were observed for the FSP samples in the transverse direction (TD) than in the longitudinal direction (LD). After post-FSP aging, the strengths of the FSP samples were increased significantly with the TD and LD exhibiting the same strengths; however, the elongation was decreased remarkably with the TD having higher elongation than the LD. A variation of the tensile properties was discussed in detail based on the microstructure heterogeneity and fracture surfaces.