Phase Diagram of Mg-Zn-Gd System Alloy at Mg Rich Corner and its Application in the Development of Two New Alloys
The Mg-rich corner of the equilibrium phase diagram of the Mg-Zn-Gd system has been calculated in detail using the phase diagram calculation software PANDAT and the thermodynamic database for Mg alloys. The calculated phase diagram includes the liquidus projection, isothermal sections and vertical sections. It is found that an increase of Zn content in the Mg-Gd alloy reduces the phase field of α-Mg + GdMg5. Based on the calculated phase diagrams, two alloys, Mg-5.5Zn-2Gd-0.5Zr and Mg-1.6Gd-5.5Zn-0.5Zr (wt.%), denoted as ZGK620 and ZGK616, were developed and their solidification and precipitation processes were analyzed in detail. The optimized thermal mechanical processing and heat-treatment processes were defined by referring to the calculated phase diagrams of the Mg-Zn-Gd system.