Development and characteristics of accumulative roll bonded Mg-Zn/Ce/Al hybrid composite

Accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process have been used develop Mg-2%Zn/Ce/Al hybrid composite and microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties were investigated. The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the grains are significantly reduced and reaches up to 1 μm in Mg-2%Zn layer and 1.8 μm in Al layer having high angle misorientation of grain boundaries after subjected to 5-passes of the ARB process. The Al₁₇Mg₁₂, AlMg₄Zn₁₁ and Al₁₁Ce₃ intermetallic phases were observed through the XRD analysis. Mechanical properties of the hybrid composite improved with increase in the number of ARB passes which is attributed to work hardening, grain refinement and uniform distribution of Ce particles. Presence of Ce in the hybrid composite restricts the phenomenon of dynamic recrystallization and prevents the grain growth during ARB process. The corrosion rate of Mg-Zn/Ce/Al hybrid composite (0.72 mm/y) improved about 3.3 times as compared to that of Mg-2%Zn alloy (2.37 mm/y).