The Effect of Treatment of Powder Precursor on the Properties of Compacted Mg-4Y-3Re Alloy

Abstract Powder metallurgy products display superior performance compared to traditionally cast ingots. The final properties of these products can be altered through various methods, such as pre-treatment of the powder. This study focuses on different pre-treatment techniques, including milling, chemical treatment, and heat treatment, as well as their combinations. The results show that distinct microstructures were produced, and their impact on mechanical and corrosion properties was evaluated. The results indicate that milling and chemical treatment increase the yield strength of the material by up to 34 MPa but decrease the elongation by up to 5%. On the other hand, heat treatment increases the elongation by up to 7% but decreases the yield strength by up to 36 MPa. Corrosion resistance is improved especially by chemical and heat treatment of powders, where the corrosion rate was observed to decrease by up to 50% in comparison to the value of product from atomized powder. Additionally, all types of powder pre-treatment were found to improve the corrosion resistance of the final product. This provides an opportunity to tailor the mechanical and corrosion properties of these materials to meet specific applications.