Effects of Zn/Ga ratio on microstructure, mechanical, damping and thermal properties of Mg–Zn–Ga alloy solid solutions

Effects of Zn/Ga ratio on microstructure, mechanical, damping and thermal properties of Mg– x Zn– y Ga ( x + y = 1 at.%, x / y = 3:1,1:1,1:3, x or y = 0) alloy solid solutions with similar grain sizes are investigated. With the lower Zn/Ga ratio, the yield strength, the elongation and the strain-amplitude-dependent damping of the alloy increase, while the strain-amplitude-independent damping decrease. More attention is paid to the effect of Zn/Ga ratio on the thermal conductivity of magnesium alloys, and the thermal conductivities of the as-cast and solutionized alloys decrease with the lower Zn/Ga ratio. In comparison with the as-cast alloys, the thermal conductivity decreases in different degree for the five alloys after solution treatment. Stacking-fault energy (SFE) and electro-negativity are also important factors affecting the thermal conductivity of the as-studied alloys. The thermal conductivity of the ternary magnesium alloy can be estimated by the known thermal conductivity of the binary alloys. Graphical abstract The mechanical, damping behavior of solid solution alloys with different Zn/Ga ratio and the thermal conductivity of the as-cast and solid solution alloys are given. Stacking-fault energy (SFE) and electro-negativity are also important factors affecting the thermal conductivity of the as-studied alloys. The thermal conductivity of the ternary alloy can be simply calculated by the known thermal conductivity values of the binary alloys, which has important guiding significance.