Deteriorated corrosion performance of micro-alloyed Mg-Zn alloy after heat treatment and mechanical processing

The corrosion performances of the as-cast and solution-treated Mg-0.5Zn samples were investigated in 0.9% NaCl solution and compared. From the electrochemical measurement results and corrosion morphology observations, it is found that the corrosion resistance of Mg-0.5Zn deteriorated with the extension of solution treatment duration. The main reason was the formation of Fe-Si precipitates with higher Fe concentrations during heat treatment. The Fe-Si precipitates, especially the ones with high Fe contents influenced the corrosion initiation and propagation significantly. In regard of corrosion performance, the solution-treated and then extruded sample was also performing not as good as the cast and then directly extruded sample.