Improving corrosion resistance of RE-containing magnesium alloy ZE41A through ECAP

Significant grain refinement was achieved in rare earth (RE) containing aeronautic magnesium alloy ZE41A through equal-chan-nel angular pressing (ECAP) using rotary die at 603 K. Influence of ECAP pass number on its microstructure change and corrosion behavior was investigated by optical microscope (OM)/scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and potentiostatic polarization tests in aque-otis solution of NaCl, respectively. The results showed that ultrafine equiaxial grains (about 2.5 μm) were obtained over 16 passes due to plastic-induced grain refinement accommodated by dynamic recrystallization. The lower corrosion current density and nobler corrosion po-tential correlated with large number of pressing passes were attributed to the low tendency toward localized corrosion with broken secondary phase after homogenization on ultrafine-grained Mg matrix. The multi-pass ECAP method made the ZE41A aeronautic magnesium alloy more attractive since severe plastic deformation may significandy improve its corrosion resistance besides superior mechanical properties.