The effect of dilute alloying additions on the cathodic reaction thermodynamics occurring on the magnesium basal (0001) surface was studied using a first principles approach. The stability of alloying additions on the Mg(0001) surface was considered as a function of surface energy and shown to be a function of implicit solvation. The work function of the alloyed surfaces was also largely affected by the use of an implicit solvent, with alloyed surfaces becoming increasingly noble and the pure magnesium surface becoming less noble after solvation. The cathodic reaction was considered as a three part sequence: (1) water dissociation, (2) hydrogen diffusion, and (3) hydrogen evolution. The water dissociation reaction became endothermic for Ge, In, Sb, and Sn dilute alloying, whereas Ca, Sc, Y, Ti, and Zr enhanced the already favorable water dissociation reaction. Two mechanisms of preventing hydrogen evolution were considered, with early period elements (Ca, Sc, Ti, Y, and Zr) preventing hydrogen evolution from the surface by binding the adsorbed hydrogen, whereas late period elements (Al, As, Cd, Ga, Ge, In, Si, Sn, Sb, and Zn) prevented local hydrogen recombination by repelling adsorbed hydrogen.

This study evaluates the role of thermomechanical processing and heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a hot rolled, annealed, and aged Fe-18Mn-10Al-0.9C-5Ni (wt%) steel. The steel exhibited rapid age hardening kinetics when aged in the temperature range of 500–600 °C for up to 50 h, which has been shown in other work to be the result of B2 ordering in the ferrite and κ-carbide precipitation within the austenite matrix. The ultimate tensile strength increased from 1120 MPa in the annealed condition to 1230 MPa after 2 h of aging at 570 °C. Charpy V-notch toughness was evaluated at −40 °C in sub-sized specimens with a maximum in the annealed and quenched condition of 28.5 J in the L-T orientation.