Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS)

DoITPoMS Micrograph Library Full Record for Micrograph 733

Full Record for Micrograph 733

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Micrograph no
733
Brief description
Magnesium alloy, fracture surface
Keywords
magnesium
Categories
Fracture, Metal or alloy
System
Mg-Zn
Composition
Mg 94.05, Zn 5.62, Zr 0.19, Ce 0.10, Nd 0.03 (wt%) (RZ5 Alloy)
Standard codes
Reaction
Processing
Tensile test at room temperature.
Applications
RZ5 magnesium alloy is commonly used for wheels in both Formula One and Super-bike competitions because of its high strength to weight ratio.
Sample preparation
None: fracture surface.
Technique
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in backscattered electron imaging (BEI) mode
Length bar
20 μm
Further information
This micrograph shows the brittle nature associated with the grain boundary phase, rich in zinc and rare earths. During tensile testing below 200°C the grains deform plastically but the boundaries remain elastic. This manifests itself with the growth of voids at the grain boundary phase/grain interface which link up and cause failure by the brittle intergranular fracture mode III method. Here the grain boundary phase can be clearly seen to be spalling off of the grain.
Contributor
R J Mitchell
Organisation
Department of Engineering, University of Leicester
Date
05/03/03
Licence for re-use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
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