Impact of Extrusion, ECAP, and Annealing on the Microstructure, Mechanical Properties, and Biocorrosion Behavior of the ZX10 Magnesium Alloy

Impact of Extrusion, ECAP, and Annealing on the Microstructure, Mechanical Properties, and Biocorrosion Behavior of the ZX10 Magnesium Alloy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Impact of Extrusion, ECAP, and Annealing on the Microstructure, Mechanical Properties, and Biocorrosion Behavior of the ZX10 Magnesium Alloy Sreenivas Raguraman, Andrew Kim, Tunde Ayodeji, Adam J. Griebel, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5811217/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Alloys and Compounds → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Magnesium alloys are increasingly recognized as promising materials for biomedical implants due to their low density, biocompatibility, and favorable mechanical properties. However, achieving a balance between mechanical strength and bio-corrosion resistance remains a critical challenge. This study evaluates the effects of three thermomechanical processing techniques — extrusion (EXT), Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP), and ECAP followed by low-temperature annealing at 150°C for 10 hours (ECAP-A) — on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and bio-corrosion behavior of the ZX10 magnesium alloy. EXT resulted in a coarse, elongated grain structure, increased volume fraction of Mg2Ca particles, and moderate mechanical and corrosion performance. ECAP lowered the volume fraction of Mg2Ca particles and significantly refined the grain structure, and increased dislocation density, improving hardness by 80%, yield strength, and ductility. However, the corrosion rate doubled due to the high dislocation density. Post-ECAP annealing (ECAP-A) mitigated this limitation, reducing the corrosion rate to 1.50 mm/year while maintaining a high yield strength (>200 MPa). This improvement was driven by a uniform distribution of the Ca2Mg6Zn3 phase, a further reduction of the Mg2Ca phase, and decreased dislocation density. These findings demonstrate that ECAP, followed by annealing, optimally balances mechanical performance and bio-corrosion resistance, making the ZX10 magnesium alloy a promising candidate for biodegradable implant applications Metallurgy Biomaterials Biomedical Engineering Materials Engineering magnesium alloys corrosion mechanical properties extrusion ECAP annealing Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Alloys and Compounds → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5811217","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":400926633,"identity":"947cb326-c359-4dbe-8351-44fbf387633d","order_by":0,"name":"Sreenivas Raguraman","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAx0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADHn6GMyCamXgtMpINpGqxMTjAQ6QW+dmHH7/m3WPHY3zw7DEJhgrrxAZCWgzOpZlZ8zxL5jE7cC5NguFMOhFaeBjMjHkOMAO1nDGTYGw7TFiLfA/7N6CWeh7jBpCWf0RoYTjDY/yY58BhHgMGkJYGIrQYnOEpY5xz4DiPxIEzxhYJx9KNiXHY5g9vDlTb8884Y3jjQ421LGGHMTCwSYApiQMMDAlEKAcB5g9gip8Y40fBKBgFo2BEAgCf9zxsvpDpWQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4899-7471","institution":"Johns Hopkins University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sreenivas","middleName":"","lastName":"Raguraman","suffix":""},{"id":400926634,"identity":"29bcc233-4261-4e07-8780-b8eafe5dac61","order_by":1,"name":"Andrew Kim","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5561-9878","institution":"Johns Hopkins University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andrew","middleName":"","lastName":"Kim","suffix":""},{"id":400926635,"identity":"8993e875-58af-4098-9c37-f99ff266745d","order_by":2,"name":"Tunde Ayodeji","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5286-4466","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tunde","middleName":"","lastName":"Ayodeji","suffix":""},{"id":400926636,"identity":"35474f35-a2db-4913-83c4-4c23b05e0880","order_by":3,"name":"Adam J. 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However, achieving a balance between mechanical strength and bio-corrosion resistance remains a critical challenge. This study evaluates the effects of three thermomechanical processing techniques — extrusion (EXT), Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP), and ECAP followed by low-temperature annealing at 150°C for 10 hours (ECAP-A) — on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and bio-corrosion behavior of the ZX10 magnesium alloy. EXT resulted in a coarse, elongated grain structure, increased volume fraction of Mg2Ca particles, and moderate mechanical and corrosion performance. ECAP lowered the volume fraction of Mg2Ca particles and significantly refined the grain structure, and increased dislocation density, improving hardness by 80%, yield strength, and ductility. However, the corrosion rate doubled due to the high dislocation density. Post-ECAP annealing (ECAP-A) mitigated this limitation, reducing the corrosion rate to 1.50 mm/year while maintaining a high yield strength (\u0026gt;200 MPa). This improvement was driven by a uniform distribution of the Ca2Mg6Zn3 phase, a further reduction of the Mg2Ca phase, and decreased dislocation density. 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