AN ELECTRONIC APPROACH TO THE PREDICTION OF THE MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF MAGNESIUM ALLOYS

A quantitative method for predicting the mechanical properties of magnesium alloys was proposed on the basis of the molecular orbital calculation of electronic structures. A new parameter, which is the s-orbital energy level M(k) of alloying elements in magnesium was introduced and used for the prediction. This M(k) parameter was found to describe alloying behaviour more accurately than the electronegativity and the atomic radius of elements. The compositional average of this parameter varied linearly with the Vickers hardness, the yield strength and the tensile strength of commercially available alloys and some experimental alloys. This prediction method was very convenient in designing high-performance magnesium alloys efficiently.