Creep deformation behavior and microstructure of α-Mg/long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) duplex Mg-Y-Zn alloy prepared by hot extrusion and heat treatment

There exists a great demand for improving the creep resistance of α-Mg/long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) duplex alloys. In this study, microstructure control through hot extrusion and heat treatment was employed on Mg-Y-Zn duplex alloys with the aim of achieving superior creep resistance. The extruded Mg-Y-Zn alloy exhibited an enhancement in the creep resistance with increasing heat treatment temperature. Furthermore, the heat-treated samples demonstrated outstanding creep resistance even under high stress. Their creep behavior is characterized by a low minimum creep rate and a relatively small stress exponent (n ∼ 5) even at high stress. Microstructural observations revealed that heat treatment induces grain coarsening and an increase in solute concentration within the recrystallized grains. Additionally, during creep deformation, a plate-like LPSO phase and kink bands formed within the recrystallized grains. Therefore, it is affirmed that the exceptional creep resistance observed in the Mg-Y-Zn alloys in this study can be attributed to the microstructure evolution induced by heat treatment and creep deformation.