Ultrahigh specific strength in a magnesium alloy strengthened by spinodal decomposition
Tongzheng Xin, Yuhong Zhao, Reza Mahjoub, Jiaxi Jiang, Apurv Yadav, Keita Nomoto, Ranming Niu, Song Tang, Fan Ji, Zakaria Quadir, David M. Miskovic, J. Daniels, Wanqiang Xu, Xiaozhou Liao, Long‐Qing Chen, Koji Hagihara, Xiaoyan Li, Simon P. Ringer, Michael Ferry
Abstract
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.