Simultaneously improved strength and toughness of a Mg-Sn alloy through abundant prismatic lath-shaped precipitates

Abstract Non-basal precipitates have been fabricated via alloying addition in Mg–Sn alloy to enhance the aging hardening response, while only a small number of precipitates obtained by this method contribute limited strengthening effect. In this work, a large number of lath-shaped Mg2Sn precipitates were produced in Mg–Sn alloy with the habit planes (HPs) purposely transformed from basal plane to prismatic plane. As a result, the strength and toughness were simultaneously enhanced. Specifically, the compressive yield strength (CYS) and compression to failure (CF) were increased by 137% and 75%, respectively. It is attributed to the appreciable impediment effect of the abundant prismatic laths on basal slip and twinning.