Influence of Pouring Temperature on Castability and Microstructure of QE22 and RZ5 Magnesium Casting Alloys

Abstract

Magnesium alloys are widely used in automotive and aerospace industries due to their great connection of low density and good mechanical properties. They are also characterized by good castability and weldability. Their weak high temperature properties and corrosion resistance, led to development of magnesium alloys containing rare earth elements. Casting is the most popular way of manufacturing magnesium elements. However, there is a lack of investigations concerning impact of different factors on fluidity of these alloys. This paper presents results of investigations on influence of pouring temperature on castability and microstructure of QE22 and RZ5 magnesium alloys. In case of QE22 alloy, the filling length of the liquid alloy increased with the increasing pouring temperature. In RZ5 no such dependence was noted. This is probably caused by oxide films in the structure of material. Grain refinement and eutectics volume fraction also didn’t present correlation with pouring temperature.