This paper deals with the effect of microstructure condition on ignition temperature, mechanical and corrosion properties of commercial WE43 alloy prepared by various processing techniques including conventional casting, extrusion, and powder metallurgy methods such as spark plasma sintering. For different processing technique, differences in microstructures were observed, including different grain sizes, intermetallic phases, amount of alloying elements in the solid solutions, or specific structural elements. Mechanical and corrosion properties were improved especially by grain refinement. Precipitation from oversaturated solid solutions led to further improvement of mechanical properties, while corrosion resistance was just slightly decreased due to the fine and homogeneously distributed precipitates of Mg₄₁Nd₅. The obtained results indicate huge differences in ignition resistance based on the metallurgical state of the microstructure. An improved ignition resistance was obtained at the condition with a higher concentration of proper alloying elements (Y, Nd, Gd, Dy) in the solid solution and absence of eutectic phases in the microstructure. Thermally stable intermetallic phases had a minor effect on resulting ignition temperature.

For the first time, the comprehensive characterization of the additively manufactured AlSi₉Cu₃Fe alloy is reported in this paper. Conventionally, the AlSi₉Cu₃(Fe) alloy is prepared by high-pressure die casting (HPDC), but this technology largely does not offer such opportunities as additive manufacturing (AM) does, especially in the design of new lightweight parts. In the present paper, testing samples were prepared by selective laser melting (SLM), one of the AM technologies, and characterized in terms of their microstructure (by means of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy in combination with analytical techniques for evaluation of chemical and phase composition) and mechanical properties (static tension, compression, and hardness). All the characteristics were compared with the HPDC reference material. Our study showed an excellent improvement both in strength (374 ± 11 MPa compared to 257 ± 17 MPa) and plasticity (1.9 ± 0.2% compared to 1.2 ± 0.5%) of the material thanks to its very fine and distinctive microstructure.

Zinc-based alloys represent one of the most highly developed areas regarding biodegradable materials. Despite this, some general deficiencies such as cytotoxicity and poor mechanical properties (especially elongation), are not properly solved. In this work, a Zn-5Mg (5 wt.% Mg) composite material with tailored mechanical and superior corrosion properties is prepared by powder metallurgy techniques. Pure Zn and Mg are mixed and subsequently compacted by extrusion at 200 °C and an extrusion ratio of 10. The final product possesses appropriate mechanical properties (tensile yield strength = 148 MPa, ultimate tensile strength = 183 MPa, and elongation = 16%) and decreased by four times the release of Zn in the initial stage of degradation compared to pure Zn, which can highly decrease cytotoxicity effects and therefore positively affect the initial stage of the healing process.