Solubility Data of Eight Common Alloying Elements in Magnesium

The solubility values of eight common alloying elements Al, Ca, Ce, Gd, Nd, Sn, Y and Zn in hcp Mg are experimentally measured from diffusion profiles obtained from diffusion multiples and liquid-solid diffusion couples (LSDCs) using electron probe microanalysis. These solubility values are used to stablish solidus and solvus lines and compared with the experimental results reported in the literature as well as the computed phase boundaries using two CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams) databases. Our experimental values for Mg-Ca (530, 580, 600, 630 °C), Mg-Ce (605, 630 °C), Mg-Gd (570, 600, 630 °C) and Mg-Nd (615, 630 °C) are the first ever measurements of the hcp solidus for these four binary systems. Additional solubility data obtained from our experiments are reported for Mg-Al (375, 420, 450, 500, 550, 600 °C), Mg-Sn (375, 420, 500, 550, 600 °C), Mg-Y (590, 610, 630 °C), and Mg-Zn (275, 450, 500, 550 °C). Our experimental data are valuable input to future thermodynamic reassessments of the eight binary systems. This study also clearly shows the effectiveness of measuring solidus data using the elegant LSDCs.