Application of Neutron Diffraction in Characterization of Texture Evolution during High- Temperature Creep in Magnesium Alloys

Abstract

A good combination of room-temperature and elevated temperature strength and ductility, good salt-spray corrosion resistance and excellent diecastability are frequently among the main considerations in development of a new magnesium alloy for automotive industry. Unfortunately, there has been much lesser effort in development of wrought-stock alloys for high temperature applications. Extrudability and high temperature performance of wrought material become important factors in an effort to develop new wrought alloys and processing technologies. This paper shows some results received in creep testing and studies of in-creep texture evolution for several wrought magnesium alloys developed for use in elevated- temperature applications.Along with others “traditional” characterization techniques of metals’ performance in high- temperature creep, neutron diffraction was employed in this study to analyze evolution of crystallographic texture during creep deformation. The paper compares two methods of texture analysis in neutron diffraction studies: based on monochromatic (reactor-source) beam and white neutron beam (time-of-flight method, synchrotron). The time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometer illuminates the sample with a non-filtered beam of neutrons and captures the readings with an encircled detector array. This provides a very fast and detailed picture of the crystallographic texture for the bulk of the sample. As the white beam retains all neutron wavelengths, it takes much less time to collect statistically-valid dataset for the diffraction pattern.On the other hand, the monochromatic beam setup includes a monochromatic crystal that filters out a specific wavelength. The diffracted beam is then captured by a much simpler neutron detector. This setup is more flexible, allowing for choosing various wavelengths (depending on the sample material) but obviously requiring more time for statistically viable data collection.These studies were performed using E3 neutron spectrometer of the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre in Chalk River, ON, and HIPPO TOF spectrometer at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, NM.