Grain boundary plasticity in Mg binary alloys by segregation of p-block element

Somekawa, Hidetoshi*; Tsuru, Tomohito   ; Singh, A.*

The effect of p-block elements (Ga, Ge and In) addition on grain boundary structures and room temperature mechanical responses was investigated on extruded Mg binary alloys with fine-grained structures. Grain boundary segregation was confirmed in the Mg-Ga and Mg-In alloys, whereas the Mg-Ge alloy did not show such microstructures associated with solubility. Grain boundary segregation affected the plastic deformation of the Mg-Ga and Mg-In alloys. In particular, the Mg-In alloy had a large strain rate dependency and exhibited good deformability at low strain rate regimens. First-principles calculations indicated that p-block elements produce a bond-weakening effect at grain boundaries, and atomistic distances at grain boundaries varies according to the element. Solute atom which brings about both bond-weakening and bond-expansion effects to Mg atoms is effective in enhancing the contribution of grain boundary sliding in deformation.