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Article

Fatigue Behavior of the Rare Earth Rich EV31A Mg Alloy: Influence of Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation

This version is not peer-reviewed.

Submitted:

24 May 2017

Posted:

25 May 2017

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Abstract
Rare earth rich magnesium alloys are used in aerospace and automotive fields because of their high specific strength and good castability. However, due to their low corrosion resistance, protective surface treatments, such as conversion coating or electroless plating are necessary, when they have to be used in humid or corrosive environments. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) and different surface roughness on the rotating bending fatigue of an innovative Mg alloy, with a high content of Nd (up to 3.1 wt%) and Gd (up to 1.7 wt %). Fatigue tests revealed a 15% decrease in the fatigue strength of the PEO treated alloy with respect to the bare alloy, probably due to the residual tensile stresses induced by the treatment. The effect of surface roughness on the bare alloy was, instead, negligible. The mechanisms of crack initiation were similar in the untreated and PEO treated alloy, with crack nucleation sites located in correspondence of large facets of the cleavage planes.
Keywords: 
rare earth rich magnesium alloy; Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation; PEO; microstructure; fatigue
Subject: 
Chemistry and Materials Science  -   Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Copyright: This open access article is published under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permit the free download, distribution, and reuse, provided that the author and preprint are cited in any reuse.

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