Materials Characterization 136 (2018) 310–317

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Materials Characterization
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matchar

Effect of high content of manganese on microstructure, texture and T

mechanical properties of magnesium alloy
⁎ ⁎
Zhengwen Yua,b, , Aitao Tangb, , Jiejun Heb,c, Zhengyuan Gaod, Jia Sheb, Jianguo Liua,
Fusheng Panb
a
Special Key Laboratory of Oral Disease Research, Higher Education Institution in Guizhou Province, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi 563003, PR China
b
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
c
College of Materials and Metallurgy, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550003, PR China
d
School of Mechatronics and Automotive Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the present investigation, microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of Mg-3Mn alloys fabricated by
Magnesium‑manganese alloys hot extrusion process with the extrusion temperatures of 250 °C and 300 °C were investigated. The results re-
Microstructure vealed that the samples exhibited the refined microstructure and weakened basal texture. Refined microstructure
Texture of the samples was attributed to the dynamic precipitates suppressing the recrystallization grain growth during
Mechanical property
extrusion process. Weakened basal texture of the samples was explained as a result of particle stimulated nu-
PSN
cleation (PSN) promoted by coarsened Mn precipitates altering the texture of extruded profiles during re-
crystallization by orienting the c-axis of grains at an angle that favors basal slip activity. As a result, the samples
exhibited the high tensile elongation and good yield strength at room temperature.

1. Introduction extremely poor performance at room temperature because of the

Magnesium and its alloys have received great attention in the past
decades due to their low density, good thermal conductivity, high
electromagnetic shielding characteristics and excellent recyclability.
These outstanding properties can significantly contribute to the aspect
of weight saving in the design and construction of cell phones, auto-
motive, aerospace components and electronic products [1–3]. However,
extensive application of Mg alloys has been limited because of their
poor ductility and insufficient strength at room temperature [4]. The
poor performance of Mg alloys can be explained as their special hex-
agonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structure and limited number of slip
systems at room temperature.
Grain refinement and precipitation hardening have great effect on
improving the strength of Mg alloys at room temperature [5–8]. In
previous work [9–11], zirconium additions exhibited the obvious effect
on refining the microstructure of Mg alloys, such as Mg-Zn and Mg-RE
series alloys. Others [12,13] also found that alloying with Mn rather
than Zr could effectively refine the microstructure of Mg-RE extrusion
profiles, leading to an obvious enhancement of strength. However, re-
cent studies [14–16] figured out that the addition of Mn exhibited the
negative effect on refining the microstructure of Mg-1Mn (M1) alloys
subjected to the different kinds of extrusion temperature, exhibiting the
coarsened microstructure and intensified basal texture. As a result, Mg-
Mn alloys have not been widely considered as the structural applica-
tions, although the alloys show the ultrahigh damping capacity [17],
good corrosion resistance [18] and excellent creep behavior [19].
Recently, investigations [20,21] found that an amount of second
phases precipitated prior to extrusion process could potentially be more
obvious on improving the mechanical properties of extrusion profiles,
because fine precipitates can refine the microstructure of extrusion Mg
alloys by impeding the growth of dynamically recrystallized grains
during extrusion process. Jung et al. [22] have already proved that the
undissolved phases distributed along the recrystallized grain bound-
aries effectively refined the microstructure of AZ80 alloy during ex-
trusion process, leading to a marked increase in strength and elonga-
tion. Additionally, our previous investigation [23] also found that the
existence of a high density of fine Mn precipitates prior to extrusion
obviously could refine the microstructure of M1 alloy subjected to low
extrusion temperature of 250 °C, leading to an obvious improvement in
strength and elongation. Therefore, as to further confirm the grain re-
finement effect of Mn addition on Mg alloys, a high concentration of
3.0 wt% Mn is applied in the present investigation, aiming at under-
standing how Mn precipitates prior to extrusion affect the micro-
structure, texture and mechanical properties of as-extruded Mg alloys.

⁎
Corresponding authors at: Chongqing University, Chongqing, PR China.
E-mail addresses: zwyu@zmc.edu.cn (Z. Yu), tat@cqu.edu.cn (A. Tang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2017.12.029
Received 19 July 2017; Received in revised form 22 November 2017; Accepted 19 December 2017
Available online 20 December 2017
1044-5803/ © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Z. Yu et al.
Table 1
Chemical composition of M3 alloy (wt%).
Alloys Mn Fe Si Others Mg
M3 2.971 0.001 0.002 < 0.010 Bal.
2. Experimental Procedure
Commercial pure magnesium (99.98 wt% Mg) and Mg-Mn master
alloy containing 4.04 wt% manganese were applied to synthesize the
experimental samples. The testing alloy Mg-3.0Mn, hereafter named
M3 alloy, was melt in an electric resistance furnace under a mixed at-
mosphere of CO2 and SF6. Molten metal was stirred and held on about
20 min at 740 °C. Then it was poured into a preheated (300 °C) steel
mold. The dimensions of the ingots were 100 mm in diameter and
150 mm in length. The billets covered with graphite were homogenized
at 500 °C for 24 h and then water quenching immediately. The billets
were preheated to 250 °C and 300 °C, respectively, for 2 h and extruded
in an XJ-500 horizontal extruder. Solid rods, approximately 16 mm in
diameter, corresponding to an extrusion ratio of 25:1, were extruded at
the extrusion rate of 4 mm s− 1 and air cooled.
As to confirm whether the high melting point metal Mn has been
added into the M3 alloy, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) was
employed to inspect the actual chemical composition of the experi-
mental samples shown in Table 1. XRF result indicated that Mn alloying
element was successfully added into the experimental samples.
Phase constitution and texture were determined by Rigaku D/max-
2500 X-ray diffraction (XRD), using Cu Kα radiation (wave length
λ = 0.15406 nm) at 45 kv and 150 mA with a sample tilt angle ranging
from 20° to 80°. Texture analyses of the extrusion bars were carried out
for the (0002), (1010 ), (1011) and (1012 ) planes. The measurements were
performed on the cross sections of the specimens. Differential scanning
calorimetry (DSC) was tested by NETZSCH STA 449C system. Samples
weighted around 30 mg were heated in a flowing argon atmosphere
from room temperature to 700 °C for 5 min before being cool down to
100 °C. The cooling curve was recorded at a controlling speed of 10 °C/
min.
Samples were ground and polished by standard metallographic
preparations. Afterwards, specimens were etched in a solution con-
taining 20 ml acetic acid, 6 g picric acid, 2 ml H2O and 100 ml ethanol.
Zeiss optical microscope was applied to observe the microstructure of
extruded profiles.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) foils of the samples were
prepared by twin-jet electro polishing using a solution of 5.3 g LiCl,
11.6 g Mg(ClO4)2, 500 ml methanol and 100 ml 2-butoxy-ethanol at
approximately − 50 °C and 90 V. The specimens were surface cleaned
by ion milling using a Gatan Precision ion Polishing System (PIPS) at an
operating voltage of 2 kV.
Room temperature mechanical properties of the samples were tested
using a universal material testing machine for tension and compression
(SANS CMT-5100). Tensile (5 mm diameter and 25 mm gauge length)
and compressive (8 mm diameter and 12 mm height) test specimens
were machined parallel to the extrusion axis from the extruded rods and
pulled to failure with a strain rate of 3 mm/min. At least three samples
were taken from different locations of the extruded rods. The tension
and compression axes were kept parallel to the extrusion axis.
3. Results
3.1. Phase Component
XRD patterns of both as-cast and as-extruded M3 alloys have been
examined shown in Fig. 1. XRD pattern of as-cast M3 alloy shown in
Fig. 1a indicates that phase constitutions are α-Mg matrix and Mn
precipitates, respectively. None of the Mg-Mn intermetallic compounds
311
Materials Characterization 136 (2018) 310–317
are found in this paper. The result is consistence with the previous work
[24]. In addition, extrusion process, such as temperature, strain rate,
extrusion ratio et al., rarely changes the phase components of Mg alloys
[25]. Therefore, cross section of M3 alloy extruded at 300 °C are se-
lected to examine the XRD pattern shown in Fig. 1b. The result de-
monstrates that the main phases of as-extruded M3 alloy are α-Mg and
α-Mn phases. Due to the limited solid solubility of Mn alloying element
in Mg matrix shown in Fig. 1c, none of the intermetallic compounds are
formed between magnesium and manganese in M3 alloy extruded at
both 250 °C and 300 °C. Fig. 1d shows the DSC cooling curve of as-cast
M3 alloy in this paper. As clearly observed, the alloy has four main
peaks at about 687.2 °C, 678.0 °C, 659.7 °C and 640.1 °C, respectively,
corresponding to the pseudo peritectic reaction or phase transformation
temperatures.
3.2. Microstructure
Fig. 2 shows the microstructure of both as-cast and as-extruded al-
loys in the present work. In Fig. 2a, as-cast pure Mg shows the ex-
tremely coarsened microstructure with the average grain diameter of
~1481.5 μm. Previous investigation [26] figured out that Mn exhibited
the extremely poor grain refinement effect on as-cast Mg alloys with its
lowest grain growth restriction factor (GRF) value of ~0.15, compared
with those alloying elements, Ti [27], Fe [28], Zr [26] et al., showing
the obvious effect on refining the microstructure of as-cast Mg alloys.
However, microstructure of as-cast M3 alloy has been refined compared
with as-cast pure Mg, and the average grain diameter is ~741.8 μm
shown in Fig. 2b.
Metallography of deformed, e.g. extruded, rolled, forged, Mg-Mn
alloys is difficulty to be revealed due to their poor response to etching
[29]. According to the previous investigation [30], there were no sig-
nificant change in average grain size of Mg-Mn alloys when annealing
at 300 °C for 1 h. As to clearly reveal the microstructure of the samples
in the present work, therefore, both of the extruded samples are an-
nealed at 300 °C for 1 h, and microstructure of the samples are shown in
Fig. 2. The samples exhibit a bimodal microstructure, consisting of
equiaxed recrystallized grains and unrecrystallized regions indicated by
the arrows in Fig. 2c and Fig. 2d. The volume fraction of un-
recrystallized regions in M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C is ~7.8% shown in
Fig. 2c, and the average recrystallized and unrecrystallized grain sizes
are 1.1 μm and 4.8 μm, respectively. With the extrusion temperature
increasing to 300 °C, the volume fraction of unrecrystallized regions,
average recrystallized and unrecrystallized grain sizes are ~ 9.2%,
5.3 μm and 9.4 μm shown in Fig. 2d, respectively.
Fig. 3 shows the SEM images of both as-cast and as-extruded M3
alloys. Obviously, both of the samples show the similar phase con-
stitutions. In Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b, an amount of coarsened Mn-enriched
particles, identified by EDS inset of Fig. 3a and marked by the arrows in
Fig. 3b, are observed locating among the matrix and along the grain
boundary. Fig. 3c and Fig. 3d show the SEM morphologies of M3 alloy
extruded at 250 °C. As clearly seen from the figures, a large number of
finer Mn-enriched particles confirmed by EDS inset of Fig.3d are ob-
served, and only a small quantity of coarsened particles containing Fe
and Si are observed in Fig. 3c. The coarsened particles have been
commonly observed in Mg alloys [18]. This can be estimated as the
major factor of Mn addition on removing the impurities, and then im-
proving the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys [31].
3.3. Texture
Texture in forms of (0002), (1010 ), (1011) and (1012 ) pole figures of
M3 alloys extruded at both 250 °C and 300 °C are analyzed to assess the
grain orientation evolution shown in Fig. 4. Both of the samples exhibit
the unusual fiber texture. In Fig. 4a, M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C shows
the texture with 〈0001〉 axis of the Mg matrix tilting nearly 40° away
from the radial direction, and a maximum texture intensity of 1.606.
Z. Yu et al.
With the extrusion temperature increasing to 300 °C, the intensified
texture is with < 0001 > axis of the Mg matrix tilting about 10° away
from the radial direction, and an increased intensity of 1.712 is ex-
amined shown in Fig. 4b. Previous investigations [32–36] illustrated
that the recrystallized grains usually corresponded to a relatively weak
texture. In other words, grains nucleated by the particle stimulated
nucleation (PSN) mechanism are proved to be random in orientation,
leading to the weakened texture of M3 alloys in this paper [37–39]. The
lower texture intensity of M3 alloys might be attributed to the higher
volume faction of recrystallized grains shown in Fig. 2.
3.4. Mechanical Properties
The typical nominal tensile and compressive stress-strain curves of
312
Materials Characterization 136 (2018) 310–317
Fig. 1. XRD patterns of (a) as-cast and (b) as-
extruded Mg-3Mn alloys. (c) Mg-enriched corner
of Mg-Mn phase diagram and (d) DSC cooling
curve of as-cast Mg-3Mn alloy.
Fig. 2. Optical microscope images of (a) as-cast
Mg, (b) as-cast Mg-3Mn and as-extruded Mg-3Mn
at the extrusion temperatures of (c) 250 °C and
(d) 300 °C.
both as-cast and as-extruded M3 alloys are shown in Fig. 5, and room
temperature mechanical properties are listed in Table 2. Obviously, as-
cast M3 alloy shows a yield strength (YS) of 34.2 ± 3 MPa, an ultimate
tensile strength (UTS) of 97.7 ± 5 MPa and a tensile elongation to
rupture (EL) of 5.6 ± 0.6%. The poor performance of as-cast alloy can
be attributed to the coarsened microstructure shown in Fig. 2b, poor
solid solution strengthening behavior [40] and unsatisfied precipitation
hardening effect [41]. However, M3 alloy, after hot extrusion de-
formation, exhibits the excellent mechanical performance shown in
Fig. 5. The sample extruded at 250 °C exhibits the highest YS of
212.6 ± 6 MPa, excellent UTS of 248.3 ± 8 MPa and outstanding EL
property of 29.9 ± 0.3%. With the extrusion temperature increasing to
300 °C, YS, UTS and EL properties of the alloy decrease slightly to be
205.4 ± 5 MPa, 241.6 ± 7 MPa and 26.7 ± 0.5%, respectively.
Z. Yu et al.
Simultaneously, the alloy extruded at 250 °C also shows the higher
compressive properties than that extruded at 300 °C. Furthermore, the
samples extruded at 250 °C and 300 °C also exhibit the improved yield
strength asymmetry (YSA) properties, and the values of YSA are ~0.91
and ~0.89, respectively. Therefore, M3 alloys in the present work show
the better comprehensive mechanical properties, including YS, EL and
YSA, than commercial AZ31 and ZK60 alloys [9,42–44].
4. Discussion
4.1. Effect of Mn Addition on Microstructure
In general, microstructure of as-extruded Mg alloys can be refined
by a high quantity of fine precipitates located along the grain boundary
313
Materials Characterization 136 (2018) 310–317
Fig. 3. SEM morphologies of (a), (b) as-cast and (c), (d) as-
extruded Mg-3Mn alloys extruded at 250 °C.
that have the obvious effect on pinning the grain growth during the
extrusion process. Most of previous investigations proved that Mn ele-
ment had the obvious effect on refining the microstructure of as-ex-
truded Mg alloys, e.g. Mg-Zn [45], Mg-Gd [13] and Mg-RE-Zn [12] al-
loys. In addition, our previous work [23] found that Mn addition can
significantly refine the microstructure of pure Mg as well, leading to an
obvious enhancement of tensile properties. Fig. 6 shows the bright filed
TEM image of M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C. A high density of nanoscale
heterogeneous phases lying among the matrix and along the grain
boundary are observed Fig. 6a. Together with the EDS analyzes, second
phases marked as “1”, “2” and “3” located in the red circles A, B and C
in Fig. 6a, respectively, are verified to be Mn-enriched phases. Ac-
cording to the previous investigation [24], an amount of Mn-enriched
particles are only Mn precipitates in M3 alloy because Mn phase is the
Fig. 4. Texture of as-extruded Mg-3Mn alloys at
the extrusion temperatures of (a) 250 °C and (b)
300 °C.
Z. Yu et al. Materials Characterization 136 (2018) 310–317

intermetallic compounds, which is also observed in Fig. 3c. Therefore,

the precipitated particles lying among the matrix and along the grain
boundary are recommended as the nucleation cores inducing the re-
crystallized grains nucleated due to PSN mechanism, resulting in the
weakened texture in Fig. 4. Subsequently, an amount of dynamic pre-
cipitation nanoscale Mn phases shown in Fig. 6a are with their strong
pinning effect suppressing the recrystallized grains growth, leading to
the extremely refined microstructure in Fig. 2c.

4.3. Effect of Mn Addition on Mechanical Properties

In general, grain diameter of α-Mg matrix, texture and precipitates

Fig. 5. Mechanical properties of as-cast and as-extruded Mg-3Mn alloys.
one and only precipitation phase in the Mg-rich corner of Mg-Mn binary
alloys. Moreover, high density of nanoscale Mn heterogeneous particles
in the matrix and along the grain boundary are expected to play a vital
role in pinning the recrystallized grains growth of α-Mg matrix during
the extrusion process, resulting in the extremely refined microstructure
shown in Fig. 2c.
4.2. Effect of Mn Addition on Texture Evolution
As well known, texture has been recommended as one of the most
important factors affecting the mechanical properties of as-extruded Mg
alloys. Texture evolution can be influenced by the deformation struc-
ture of Mg since different mechanism of recrystallization, grain
boundary bulging (GBB), twin-induced nucleation (TIN) and particle
stimulated nucleation (PSN), resulting in differing texture development
are governed by second phases and grain size. It is widely accepted that
GBB mechanism leads to the nucleation of grains with orientations si-
milar to the basic grain which in the case of Mg alloy shows little
change in the basal deformation texture, while TIN and PSN nucleation
mechanisms produce randomly orientation recrystallized grains con-
tributing to weakened texture [38,39].
Recently, investigations [14,16,29,46–50] demonstrated that M1
alloys exhibited the typical fiber texture which was unfavor to improve
the tensile elongation property at room temperature. The recrystallized
grains in M1 alloys, in their investigations, might be attributed to the
GBB mechanism which has already been proved by our previous in-
vestigation [23]. However, M3 alloys extruded at both 250 °C and
300 °C, in the present investigation, show the weakened texture. Fig. 7
shows the SEM morphologies of M3 alloy prior to extrusion process. As
clearly observed from the figures, a large number of second phases
precipitated in M3 alloy are shown in Fig. 7a and b. In Fig. 7a, most of
finer precipitates marked as “A” located along the grain boundary are
identified as Mn-enriched phase, while a small number of coarsened
particles marked as “B” in Fig. 7b are confirmed to be the Mn-Fe-Si
have been recommended as the most important factors on improving
the mechanical properties of as-extruded Mg alloy. Grain size
strengthening mechanism is commonly introduced by Hall-Petch (HP)
equation: σ0.2 = σ0 + kd− 1/2, where σ0 is the intrinsic stress of pure Mg
(σ0 = 11 MPa), k is the coefficient of HP related to the alloys
(k = 220 MPa·μm1/2 for Mg alloy) [27] and d is the average grain
diameter of recrystallized grains. Investigations have concluded that
the parameters for HP relationship in Mg alloy depend on the grain size
and texture, and the hardening behavior of Mg alloy is more obvious
than that of Al alloy because of its higher k coefficient [51,52]. In the
present investigation, M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C shows the more re-
fined microstructure than extruded at 300 °C. The mean grain size of
the samples in Fig. 3 are approximately 1.5 μm and 6.3 μm, respec-
tively, by averaging recrystallized and unrecrystallized grains. As a
result, refined microstructure would play the vital roles in obtaining
high YS of the samples in the present investigation.
Furthermore, texture of M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C shows that <
0001 > planes of Mg matrix tilts about 40° away from the radial di-
rection (RD), while the basal planes of Mg matrix in M3 alloy extruded
at 300 °C tilts approximate 10° away from the RD in Fig. 4. Both the
basal and prismatic slips of M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C can be easier
activated than those of M3 alloy extruded at 300 °C during the tension
applied along the extrusion direction (ED) since the Schmid factor value
for the basal slip increases [14,32,34–36,43,46,53], resulting in an
enhancement of tensile elongation property. In other words, YS of the
sample could be decreased compared to the case with the intensified
basal texture, due to the low critical shear stress of basal slip [54].
However, precipitation strengthening due to the copious disloca-
tions, faults and nanoscale Mn phases can compensate the strength
reduction from texture weakening [6]. Fig. 8 shows the bright field
images of M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C. There are high density of na-
noscale precipitates identified as Mn phases which has been discussed
above. A rod-like precipitate has also been found and it is also con-
firmed as Mn phases combined by EDS result inset of Fig. 8a and dif-
fraction pattern marked as B. In addition, the rod-like Mn precipitate is
parallel to the prismatic planes of α-Mg matrix, according to the result
of diffraction pattern of α-Mg matrix marked as A in Fig. 8a. Nie et al.
[55] figured out that plate-like precipitates formed on prismatic planes
of α-Mg matrix were the most effective in dispersive strengthening by
developing the Orowan formula that was appropriate for Mg alloys with
rods or plates precipitates. As a result, the rod-like precipitate,

Table 2
Mechanical properties of M3 alloys and samples reported in literatures.

Alloys Tension Compression YSA Reference

TYS (MPa) UTS (MPa) El (%) CYS (MPa) UCS (MPa) EC (%)

M3-as-cast 34.2 ± 3 97.7 ± 5 5.6 ± 0.6 – – – – This paper

M3-250 °C 212.6 ± 6 248.3 ± 8 29.9 ± 0.3 193.4 ± 4 349.2 ± 9 24.3 ± 0.4 0.91 This paper
M3-300 °C 205.4 ± 5 241.6 ± 7 26.7 ± 0.5 182.8 ± 6 316.8 ± 10 18.5 ± 0.7 0.89 This paper
AZ31-300 °C 202 326 17 125 418 20 0.62 [40]
AZ31-400 °C 250 320 27.5 160 370 15 0.64 [41]
ZK60-390 °C 268 388 17.7 – – – – [42]

314
Z. Yu et al.
combining with an amount of nanoscale Mn heterogeneous lying
among the matrix and along the grain boundary, could considerably
contribute to the strength of Mg alloys by providing barriers for gliding
dislocations. In addition, a high density of faults are also observed in
M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C shown in Fig. 8a and b. According to the
result of Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) pattern presented as “C” in
Fig. 8, the high density of faults in this paper are parallel to the basal
planes of α-Mg matrix, implying that the faults can impede the basal
slip and resulting in an enhancement of YS of the sample [56].
Therefore, microstructure of both M3 alloys have been refined from
the dynamic recrystallization [57], and the alloy extruded at 250 °C
shows the refined microstructure. The dynamic precipitates of na-
noscale Mn phases among the matrix and along the grain boundary
shown in Fig. 6 play the vital role in refining the microstructure of α-Mg
grains of the extruded binary M3 alloys in Fig. 2. Moreover, since an
amount of nanoscale Mn precipitates disperse among the matrix and
along the grain boundary in Fig. 6 and a high density of faults are in-
troduced during extrusion process in Fig. 8, the precipitates and defects
can provide the barriers for gliding dislocation, and thus contributing to
an improvement of strength in M3 alloy.
5. Conclusions
In the present work, M3 alloys are processed by an extrusion pro-
cedure in which different extrusion temperatures are applied. The
major conclusions are summarized as follows:
315
Materials Characterization 136 (2018) 310–317
Fig. 6. (a) Bright field TEM image of Mg-3Mn alloy ex-
truded at 250 °C. A, B, and C images correspond to the
enlargement of precipitates marked as red circle in (a). 1, 2
and 3 are the EDS results for the secondary phase particle
pointed in A, B and C, respectively. The radial direction of
the extrusion rod is presented as RD. (For interpretation of
the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is
referred to the web version of this article.)
1. Mn additions effectively refine the microstructure of M3 alloys ex-
truded at both 250 °C and 300 °C due to the high density of na-
noscale Mn precipitates locating among the matrix and along the
grain boundary, pinning the recrystallized grains growth of α-Mg
matrix during extrusion process. M3 alloy extruded at 250 °C shows
the refined grains with mean grain size of 1.5 μm by averaging re-
crystallized and unrecrystallized grains.
2. Both of M3 alloys show the weakened basal texture attributed to the
particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) effect.
3. The improvement of mechanical properties of M3 alloys can be at-
tributed to the combined effects of refined microstructure, wea-
kened basal texture and high density of nanoscale Mn precipitates
locating among the matrix and along the grain boundary, disloca-
tions and faults.
Acknowledgements
The present work is supported by the National Key Research and
Development Program of China (2016YFB0301100), National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Project 51501045 and 51474043), Youth
Talent Project of Department of Education of Guizhou Province (KY
[2016] 207), Natural Science Foundation of Guizhou Province (J
[2015] 2067), Research Foundation for Advanced Talents in Guizhou
Institute of Technology (XJGC20141102) and Foundation of Talent
Team (Guizhou (2015) 4008).
Fig. 7. SEM images of Mg-3Mn alloy prior to
extrusion process.
Z. Yu et al.
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Fig. 8. (a) Bright field TEM image of Mg-3Mn alloy ex-
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Diffraction patterns of regions A and B are displayed. EDS
results inset of (a) represents the rod-like precipitate. (b)
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