The effects of Nb concentration and temperature on the generalized stacking fault energy (GSFE) of basal, prismatic I, pyramidal I and II plane for Zr-Nb alloys are investigated by molecular dynamics simulations (MD). The stable and unstable SFEs of different slip systems show no significant change with the increasing Nb concentration (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 at.%) in Zr-Nb alloys at 0 K. Basal, pyramidal I and II planes slip of Zr-Nb alloys prefer to deform by full dislocation with the temperature increases. Additionally, plastic deformation anisotropy of Zr-Nb alloy is improved with the increasing temperature using both embedded atom method (EAM) and angular-dependent potentials (ADP). The present work provides a theoretical basis for understanding enhanced plasticity of Zr-Nb alloys under finite temperature.

In this work, an Al foil wrapped AZ31 plate was fabricated by direct hot pressing with a thickness reduction of 50% at 300 °C. Effective metallurgical bonding was produced at the Mg/Al interface and no obvious defects were found. Annealing treatment at 400 °C can generate two continuous intermetallic compound layers (Al₃Mg₂ on the Al side and Mg₁₇Al₁₂ on the Mg side) at the bonding interface. As annealing time increases, the intermetallic compound layers thicken, accompanied by the thinning and disappearance of the pure Al layer. After annealing for 8 h, a thick coating with the Al₃Mg₂ and Mg₁₇Al₁₂ mixture is formed on the surface of Mg plate. The micro-hardness of the intermetallic compound layers is much higher than that of the AZ31-substract and pure aluminum layer. Thus, the prolonged annealing (>4 h) can greatly increase the surface hardness. Compared with the as-received AZ31 sample, the corrosion resistance of the Al foil wrapped AZ31 plate can also be greatly improved. As annealing time increased from 0.5 to 8 h, the corrosion resistance showed a slightly decrease. In the present work, the sample annealed for 4 h gave the best consideration to surface hardness and corrosion resistance.