AZ61 Mg with nano SiO₂ particles prepared by spray forming plus extrusion

The current study applies the inclusion of thermally stable ceramic nano powders into the light weight AZ61 Mg base alloys via spray forming plus extrusion. The combination of spray forming and severe extrusion provides a new processing route for fabricating nano composites, with uniform distribution of the nano fillers. Parallel tries using the PM route followed by the same severe extrusion can also yield sound composites but the dispersion of the nano SiO₂ appears to be less uniform. The processed composites are characterized in terms of microstructure examination, thermal analysis, phase identification, and mechanical testing.