Grain Boundary Segregation of Rare-Earth Elements in Magnesium Alloys

Abstract

Small additions of rare-earth (RE) elements have been shown to have a powerful effect in modifying the texture of wrought magnesium alloys, giving a highly beneficial effect in improving their formability. Recent work has shown that segregation of RE atoms to grain boundaries is important in producing this texture change. In this work, two Mg-RE systems have been studied Mg-Y and Mg-Nd using high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy that permits both imaging and elemental analysis with a spatial resolution of better than 0.1 nm. The Mg-Y alloy, where the solubility and level of addition are relatively high, showed the RE texture change effect. This was accompanied by clustering of Y on the grain boundaries, consistent with previous studies of the Mg-Gd system. The Mg-Nd alloy, where the solubility and level of addition are relatively low, showed no texture change and no segregation. In this case, impurity elements binding the RE into insoluble particles, rendering it ineffective. The results are analyzed by modifying a previous model for the solute drag effect on boundaries expected due to the RE additions. This predicts that both Gd and Y will strongly inhibit boundary motion, with Gd being approximately twice as effective as Y.