2006-Effects of cover gases on melt protection of Mg alloys.pdf

At i s p c M d ? K 1 t v p a a 5 e g m o w r K a t i d 0 dJournal of Alloys and Compounds 422 (2006) 208–213 Effects of cover gases on melt protection of Mg alloys Won Ha ?, Young-Jig Kim Department of Advanced Materials Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 300 Chunchun-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon 440-746, South Korea Received 7 September 2005; received in revised form 2 December 2005; accepted 5 December 2005 Available online 24 January 2006 bstract Melt protection properties of inhibitor (SF6, HFC-134a and SO2)/air cover gas mixtures were investigated for different magnesium alloys, emperatures, gas concentrations and sealing conditions. Melt protection properties of the surface films formed in cover gas mixtures were also nvestigated for ambient atmosphere. The compositions of surface films formed in various cover gas mixtures were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron pectroscopy (XPS). For both under cover gas mixtures and ambient atmosphere, the surface film formed in HFC-134a with air cover gas mixtures rovided effective melt protection properties for all test conditions. SO showed the same melt protection properties as SF for 680 ?C whether the2 6 rucible is tightly sealed or not. XPS results revealed that the surface films formed under fluorine-bearing cover gas mixtures consist of MgO and gF2. Magnesium fluoride which has high Pilling–Bedworth ratio (PBR) can act as a barrier to further oxidation and evaporation of magnesium ue to its dense and continuous structure. 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. th rat R G S c m t i i a n r t o t i H oeywords: SF6; HFC-134a; SO2; Magnesium melt protection; Pilling–Bedwor . Introduction Magnesium is the lightest of all structural metals and is hus very attractive for applications in transportation. The total ehicle weight can be reduced by using magnesium alloy com- onents, such as seat frame, instrument panel, steering column, nd transmission housing. Each 10% saving in dead weight of motor vehicle corresponds to an increa