Ductility enhancement of extruded magnesium via yttrium addition

Two binary Mg–Y alloys and pure magnesium were prepared by extrusion. The effect of yttrium on mechanical properties was investigated in comparison between the pure magnesium and the Mg–Y alloys. The results showed that after extruded and annealed, with increment of the yttrium addition, the elongation-to-failure of magnesium increases, but the strength decreases. This is mainly due to the different textures that make the difference of deformation modes in tensile along ED direction for the pure magnesium and the Mg–Y alloys. The pure magnesium has the texture with {0 0 0 2} pole perpendicular to ED. However more random components of texture are formed in the Mg–Y alloys. Accordingly, the Mg–Y alloys can be deformed with more active dislocation slips than the pure magnesium.