Ductility Enhancement in Magnesium Alloys under Dynamic Loading

Improvement of tensile mechanical properties under dynamic loading is demonstrated for two commercial magnesium alloys. Ductility in magnesium is enhanced by the addition of alloying elements. Further enhancement of ductility can be achieved by the refining grain structures for two commercial magnesium alloys, AZ31 and WE43. The high ductility of the extruded alloy is owing to the transition in the fracture mechanisms from intergranular fracture to transgranular one with grain refinement. It is especially noted that the absorption energy per weight in the fine-grained magnesium is twice higher than that of high strength aluminum alloys. It should be expected that the alloy exhibits the high speed impact performance during foreign object damage.