Xiaozhao Wang
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Project Title
Experimental Investigation of Mg-Al-Ca System (In collaboration with CANMET-MTL)
Project Summary
Magnesium is the lightest of all metals used as the basis for constructional alloys. This makes magnesium alloys attractive for transportation applications such as automobiles and airplanes for weight reduction and higher fuel efficiency. However, one of the significant challenges for a wider application of magnesium alloys is the low creep strength. Searching for magnesium alloys with better creep property has been continuously carried out for the past century.
The determination of magnesium alloys phase diagram is the most fundamental work for the further alloy development and process improvement research. However, experimental determination of phase diagrams is a time-consuming and costly task. This becomes even more pronounced as the number of components increases. Nevertheless, the calculation of phase diagrams reduces the effort required to determine equilibrium conditions in a multicomponent system and focuses experimental work on critical regions. This research aims at verifying the Mg-Al-Ca phase diagram which is thermodynamically modeled by our research group. This preliminary phase diagram is obtained from extrapolation of the thermodynamic functions of the constituent sub-systems. Hence, the preliminary ternary phase diagram will be used to identify composition and temperature regimes to be studied experimentally
Differential thermal analysis is a commonly used method for the investigation of phase equilibria. Various thermal analysis techniques can be employed to determine the location of phase boundaries. In this research combination of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) will be used to study Mg-Al-Ca system. This research is conducted in collaboration with CANMET-MTL.
Thesis
Published Works
[1] X. Wang, M.A. Parvez, E. Essadiqi and M. Medraj, "A Differential Scanning Calorimeter Study of Mg-Al-Ca Ternary System", Proc. CSME Forum 2004, 819-828, London, Ontario, Canada (June 1-4, 2004).
[2] M. Aljarrah, M. Medraj, X. Wang, E. Essadiqi, G. Dénès and A. Muntasar, “Experimental Investigation of the Mg-Al-Ca System”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 438, Issue 1-2, 131-141 (2007).
