• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2008

The characteristics, such as roughness, thickness, microhardness and corrosion resistance, of plasma electrolytic oxide coatings on AZ91D alloy were investigated under the processing condition of various coating times. The coatings on AZ91D alloy consisted of MgO, $MgAl_{2}O_{4}$ and $Mg_{2}SiO_{4}$ oxides. The surface roughness and thickness of coatings became larger with increasing the coating time. The microhardness in cross section of coatings was much higher than not only that in surface but that in the conventional anodic oxide coatings, which increased progressively as the coating time increased. After being immersed in 3.5%NaCl solution and methyl alcohol, the corrosion resistance of AZ91D alloy was markedly improved by plasma electrolytic oxidation coating treatment, and the AZ91D alloy coated for 50min revealed excellent corrosion resistance.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.218-221
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• 2006

Influence of microstructure on the corrosion property of Mg-Al-Zn alloy was investigated using potentiodynamic polarization experiments, galvanic coupling experiments, and scanning electron microscopy in sodium chloride solutions. Pitting was the most common form of attack in chloride solution, and filiform corrosion was also occurred in AZ91D-T4 alloy. On the contrary, filiform attack in the bulk matrix was predominant corrosion form in AZ91D-T6 alloy, and the number and size of pit were decreased than those of AZ91D-T4 alloy. Galvanic coupling effect between $Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ and matrix was existed, but the propagation of galvanic corrosion was localized only near the $Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ phase in AZ91D-6T alloy. The corrosion resistance of Mg-Al matrix increased with decreasing Al content in the matrix. And, it could be regarded that Al content in the matrix is decreased by precipitation of $Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ during the aging treatment and it decreases the anodic reaction rate of the matrix and galvanic effect in AZ91D-T6 alloy. It could be considered that the composition and microstructure of surface protective layer would be varied by precipitation of $Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ and subsequent decreasing of Al content in the matrix. And it would contribute the corrosion resistance of AZ91D-T6 aging alloy.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.229-238
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• 2015

The effects of Sn addition and solution treatment on corrosion behavior were studied in AZ91 magnesium casting alloy. The addition of 5%Sn contributed to the introduction of $Mg_2Sn$ phase, to the reduction in dendritic cell size and to the increase in the amount of secondary phases. After the solution treatment, trace amount of $Al_8Mn_5$ particles were observed in the ${\alpha}$-(Mg) matrix for the AZ91 alloy, while $Mg_2Sn$ phase with high thermal stability was additionally found in the AZ91-5%Sn alloy. Before the solution treatment, the AZ91-5%Sn alloy had better corrosion resistance than the Sn-free alloy, which is caused by the enhanced barrier effect of the (${\beta}+Mg_2Sn$) phases formed more continuously along the dendritic cell boundaries. It is interesting to note that after the solution treatment, the corrosion rate of both alloys became increased, but the Sn-added alloy showed higher corrosion rate than the Sn-free alloy. The microstructural examination on the corroded surfaces revealed that the remaining $Mg_2Sn$ particles in the solution-treated AZ91-5%Sn alloy play a role in accelerating corrosion by galvanic coupling with the ${\alpha}$-(Mg) matrix.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.193-198
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• 2011

Effect of CaO addition on age hardening response has been studied by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and differential thermal analysis in AZ91 and CaO-containing ECO-AZ91 alloys. After solution treatment, the ${\beta}$($Mg_{17}Al_{12}$) phase formed during solidification mostly disappeared in the microstructure in the AZ91 alloy, whereas numerous ${\beta}$ precipitates containing Ca were still observed in the ECO-AZ91 alloy due to its enhanced thermal stability. The ECO-AZ91 alloy showed the delayed peak aging time and higher peak hardness compared with those of the AZ91 alloy. The activation energies for ${\beta}$ precipitation calculated by means of Kissinger method increased from 71.4 to 85.6 kJ/mole by the addition of CaO, which implies that CaO plays a role in reducing ${\beta}$ precipitation rate in the AZ91 alloy.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.190-199
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• 2015

The study is intended to investigate the effect of solution treatment on microstructure and corrosion behavior of AZ91(Mg-9%Al-1%Zn-0.3%Mn)-2%Ca casting alloy. In as-cast state, the AZ91-2%Ca alloy consisted of intermetallic ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$, $Al_8Mn_5$ and $Al_2Ca$ phases in ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix. After the solution treatment, Al within the ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix was distributed more homogeneously, along with the slight decrease in the total amount of intermetallic compounds. The corrosion resistance of the AZ91-2%Ca alloy was improved after the solution treatment. The microstructural examinations for the solution-treated samples revealed that the better corrosion resistance may well be related to the incorporation of more oxides and hydroxides such as $Al_2O_3$, $Al(OH)_3$, CaO and $Ca(OH)_2$ into the surface corrosion product without dissolution of the intermetallic phases along the grain boundaries.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.131-134
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• 2007

[ $SF_6$ ] gas that is used as a protective cover gas for Mg and Mg alloys during melting and casting has extremely high greenhouse effect. CaO added Mg alloys could maintain their original mechanical properties and original abilities such as fluidity and hot tearing susceptibility. The ignition temperature increased with increasing CaO addition under ambient atmosphere and nitrogen atmosphere. The minimum amount of $SF_6$ gas decreased by 0.13 wt%CaO added AZ91D Mg alloy in the sealed condition.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.609-616
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• 2019

Oxide coatings are formed on die-cast AZ91D Mg alloy through an environmentally friendly plasma electrolytic oxidation(PEO) process using an electrolytic solution of $NaAlO_2$, KOH, and KF. The effects of PEO condition with different duty cycles (10 %, 20 %, and 40 %) and frequencies(500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, and 2,000 Hz) on the crystal phase, composition, microstructure, and micro-hardness properties of the oxide coatings are investigated. The oxide coatings on die-cast AZ91D Mg alloy mainly consist of MgO and $MgAl_2O_4$ phases. The proportion of each crystalline phase depends on various electrical parameters, such as duty cycle and frequency. The surfaces of oxide coatings exhibit as craters of pancake-shaped oxide melting and solidification particles. The pore size and surface roughness of the oxide coating increase considerably with increase in the number of duty cycles, while the densification and thickness of oxide coatings increase progressively. Differences in the growth mechanism may be attributed to differences in oxide growth during PEO treatment that occur because the applied operating voltage is insufficient to reach breakdown voltage at higher frequencies. PEO treatment also results in the oxide coating having strong adhesion properties on the Mg alloy. The micro-hardness at the cross-section of oxide coatings is much higher not only compared to that on the surface but also compared to that of the conventional anodizing oxide coatings. The oxide coatings are found to improve the micro-hardness with the increase in the number of duty cycles, which suggests that various electrical parameters, such as duty cycle and frequency, are among the key factors controlling the structural and physical properties of the oxide coating.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.593-600
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• 2012

Thixomolding of Mg-alloy is a semi-solid injection molding process utilizing thixotropic phenomenon. Using this process, higher strength, thinner wall section and tighter tolerance without porosity are obtained. It has been applied for production of near-net-shape magnesium component. To design optimal thixomolding process of Mg-alloy part, molding conditions such as slurry temperature, mold temperature and injection time should be determined properly. Selection of these parameters has been dependent upon engineers' experience and intuitiveness. In this paper, to improve mechanical properties of the thixomolded product, optimal selection of process variables such as injection velocity, barrel temperature and die temperature in the process has been studied through microstructural analysis and Taguchi method. Performance of the process is verified through experiments.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.544-550
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• 2018

The passivation of AZ91D Mg alloys by plasma anodization requires deliberate choice of process parameters due to the presence of large amounts of structural defects. We study the dependence of pore formation, surface roughness and corrosion resistance on voltage by comparing the direct current (DC) mode and the pulse wave (pulse) mode in which anodization is performed. In the DC plasma anodization mode, the thickness of the electrolytic oxide film of the AZ91D alloy is uneven. In the pulse mode, the thickness is relatively uniform and the formed thin film has a three-layer structure. The pulse mode creates less roughness, uniform thickness and improved corrosion resistance. Thus, the change of power mode from DC to pulse at 150 V decreases the surface roughness (Ra) from $0.9{\mu}m$ to $0.1{\mu}m$ and increases the corrosion resistance in rating number (RN) from 5 to 9.5. Our study shows that an optimal oxide film can be obtained with a pulse voltage of 150 V, which produces an excellent coating on the AZ91D casting alloy.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.272-276
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• 2006

For the first time AZ91 (MgAl9Zn1) and AM60 (MgAl6) Mg alloy foams with homogeneous pore structures were prepared successfully via melting foaming method by using $CaCO_3$ powder as blowing agent. The possible foaming mechanisms and pore structures of these Mg alloy foams were discussed and investigated. The results show that Mg alloy melt can affect $CaCO_3$ decomposition behavior and AZ91 Mg alloy is relative easy to be foamed into metal foam with high porosity and big pore size.