Excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Al-Ce-Zr alloys

In this study, the effect of Zr elements on Al-10Ce alloys were investigated in terms of the microstructure, mechanical properties at room and high temperatures, and corrosion resistance. Meanwhile, the finite element simulations on tensile fracture was adopted to explain the fracture process of Al-Ce alloys. Results showed that as Zr content increased from 0.05 to 0.15%, the eutectic Al₁₁Ce₃ phase were gradually coarsened. However, further increase in Zr content led to the refinement and homogenization. Meanwhile, a significant transformation in the morphology of eutectic Al₁₁Ce₃ from layered to rod-like or bar-like structures happened. Correspondingly, mechanical properties at room temperature such as hardness, tensile strength, and yield strength initially decreased but subsequently increased. The tensile strength and yield strength of the alloys could reach the maximum values of 160 MPa and 96 MPa, respectively, and the elongation of the alloy reached the highest of 14.4%. The yield strength and the tensile strength at high temperature of 300 °C exhibited the highest values of 62.5 Mpa and 74 Mpa, respectively, when the Zr content is 0.05%. Moreover, the corrosion current of the alloys was minimized to 1.158 × 10^- 7 µA/cm² when the content of Zr was 0.05%, which attributed to the observed optimal microstructural characteristics of the Al₁₁Ce₃ phase at this concentration. Therefore, it is believed that Al-10Ce-Zr alloys are excellent candidate engineering materials in extreme environment fields.