Effect of corrosion on mechanical behaviors of Mg-Zn-Zr alloy in simulated body fluid

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corrosion on mechanical behaviors of the Mg-Zn-Zr alloy immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) with different immersion times. The corrosion behavior of the materials in SBF was determined by immersion tests. The surfaces of the corroded alloys were examined by SEM. The tensile samples of the extruded Mg-2Zn-0.8Zr magnesium alloy were immersed in the SBF for 0, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 d. The tensile mechanical behaviors of test samples were performed on an electronic tensile testing machine. SEM was used to observe the fracture morphology. It was found that with extension of the immersion time, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (EL) of the Mg-2Zn-0.8Zr samples decreased rapidly at first and then decreased slowly. The main fracture mechanism of the alloy transformed from ductile fracture to cleavage fracture with the increasing immersion times, which can be attributed to stress concentration and embrittlement caused by pit corrosion.