There is a new long-period stacking ordered structure in Mg–RE–Zn magnesium alloys, namely the LPSO phase, which can effectively improve the yield strength, elongation, and corrosion resistance of Mg alloys. According to different types of Mg–RE–Zn alloy systems, two transformation modes are involved in the heat treatment transformation process. The first is the alloy without LPSO phase in the as-cast alloy, and the Mg_xRE phase changes to 14H-LPSO phase. The second is the alloy containing LPSO phase in the as-cast state, and the 14H-LPSO phase is obtained by the transformations of 6H, 18R, and 24R. The effects of different solution parameters on the second phase of Mg–9Gd–2Y–2Zn–0.5Zr alloy were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The precipitation mechanism of 14H-LPSO phase during solution treatment was further clarified. At a solution time of 13 h, the grain size increased rapidly initially and then decreased slightly with increasing solution temperature. The analysis of the volume fraction of the second phase and lattice constant showed that Gd and Y elements in the alloy precipitated from the matrix and formed 14H-LPSO phase after solution treatment at 490 °C for 13 h. At this time, the hardness of the alloy reached the maximum of 74.6 HV. After solution treatment at 500 °C for 13 h, the solid solution degree of the alloy increases, and the grain size and hardness of the alloy remain basically unchanged.

High damping magnesium alloys have poor mechanical properties, so it is necessary to investigate the damping properties of high-strength wrought magnesium alloys to effectively reduce vibration and noise in mechanical engineering. The aim of this work is to improve the mechanical damping performance of a novel high-strength Mg-13Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr magnesium alloy by optimising the heat treatment process. The mechanical damping coefficient, considering not only damping capacity but also the yield strength, is selected as one of the evaluation indexes. The other evaluation index is the tensile strength. The solid solution and ageing treatment were optimised by Box-Behnken method, an efficient experimental design technique. Heat treatment experiments based on the optimal parameters verified that the best process is a solution at 520 °C for 10 h followed by ageing at 239 °C for 22 h. The damping coefficient reaches 0.296, which is 73.1% higher than that before heat treatment. There was a good agreement between the experimental and Box-Behnken predicted results. The microstructure, morphology and composition of the second phases after heat treatment were analysed by SEM, XRD and EDS. Due to the high content of alloying elements in Mg-13Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr alloy, there are a large number of second phases after heat treated. They mainly include layer, short rod-shaped, bulk long period stacking order (LPSO) Mg₁₂YZn and granular Mg₅Gd phases. It was found that the area fraction of the second phases has an extreme effect on the damping capacity and short rod-shaped LPSO can effectively improve the damping capacity of heat-treated Mg-13Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr alloy. The volume fraction of the second phases was analysed by ImageJ software. It was concluded that the smaller the area occupied by the second phases, the better the mobility of the dislocation, and the better the damping performance of the alloy. The statistical analysis results obtained using ImageJ software are consistent with the experimental results damping capacity.

The low plasticity of high strength Mg-Gd-Y alloy has become the main obstacle to its application in engineering. In this paper, the origin, propagation and fracture processes of cracks of a solution of treated Mg-13Gd-5Y-3Zn-0.3Zr alloy were observed and studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in an in situ tensile test to provide theoretical references for the development of a new high-performance Mg-Gd-Y alloy. The results showed that there was still some bulk long period stacking order (LPSO) phase remaining in solid solution Mg-13Gd-5Y-3Zn-0.3Zr alloy. Most importantly, it was found that the locations of micro-cracks vary with the different solution treatment processes, mainly including the following three types. (1) At 480 × 10 h and 510 °C × 10 h, much bulk LPSO phase with higher elastic modulus remains in the alloy, which can lead to micro-cracks in the LPSO phase due to stress concentration. (2) At 510 °C × 13 h and 510 °C × 16 h, the phase structure of bulk LPSO changes, and the stress concentration easily appears at the LPSO/α-Mg interface, which leads to micro-cracks at the interface. (3) At 510 °C × 19 h and 510 °C × 22 h, the grain size increases, and the stress concentration is obvious at the grain boundary of coarse grains, which leads to the formation of micro-cracks.