Influence of impurities on damping properties of ZK60 magnesium alloy

The influence of impurities on damping capacities of ZK60 magnesium alloys in the as-cast, as-extruded and T4-treated states was investigated by dynamically mechanical analyzer at room temperature. Granato and Lucke dislocation pinning model was employed to explain damping properties of the alloys. It is found that reducing impurity content can decrease the amount of second-phase particles, increase grain size and improve damping capacity of the as-cast alloy slightly. The as-extruded alloy with lower impurity content is found to possess obviously higher damping capacity in the relatively high strain region than that with higher impurity concentration, which appears to originate mainly from different dislocation characteristics. The variation tendency of damping property with change of impurity content after solution-treatment is also similar to that in the as-extruded and as-cast states. Meanwhile, the purification of the alloy results in an evident improvement in tensile yield strength in the as-extruded state.