Luoyang Institute of Special Materials Overcomes the Challenge of Preparing Ultra-Large-Scale Magnesium-Rare Earth Alloy Components

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, researchers from Professor Dong Jie's team at the Luoyang Institute of Special Materials of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, including Dr. Zeng Jian, Associate Professor Wang Fenghua, and Associate Professor Dong Shuai, have achieved a technological breakthrough in the development of ultra-large-scale ton-class magnesium-rare earth alloy components. The team overcame the technical challenge of homogeneous preparation of ultra-large-size magnesium-rare earth alloy components, forming a single 1,100 kg high-performance magnesium-rare earth alloy round billet, opening up a new path for lightweight applications of high-end light alloy components.

The homogeneous preparation of large-scale high-performance magnesium-rare earth alloy components has long been a technical difficulty in the industry. In previous manufacturing processes, problems were widespread, including difficulty in the purification and transfer of large-volume melts, difficulty in precisely controlling the content of main alloying elements, susceptibility to cracking and numerous defects in semi-continuous casting of large-scale ingots, susceptibility to bending and folding during single-heat blooming of ingots with a large height-to-diameter ratio, and poor consistency of microstructure and properties in components, which greatly restricted the engineering implementation and large-scale application of magnesium-rare earth alloy components.

In response to the above "bottleneck" technical pain points, the researchers carried out systematic full-chain technical research through theoretical innovation, extensive process experiments, and iterative scheme optimization. The team successively optimized and established technologies including clean transfer of large-volume melts, precise regulation of main alloying element content, homogeneous preparation of large-scale ingots by semi-continuous casting, near-isothermal single-heat blooming of ingots with a large height-to-diameter ratio, and efficient synergistic regulation of component shape and properties. At present, the team has successfully prepared ultra-large-scale high-performance ton-class magnesium-rare earth alloy round billet forgings. The forgings have no surface cracks and excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, achieving dual assurance of quality and performance and meeting the strict service performance requirements of high-end equipment components.