Quantitative homogeneity assessment of particle reinforced magnesium-lithium composite ingot by homogeneity factors

A method based on dimensionless homogeneity factors (homogeneity coefficient ζ and deviation rate η) was proposed to assess the homogeneity of particle reinforced magnesium-lithium matrix composite industrial-sized ingot. The effectiveness of the method was investigated, and the correlation between microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties was explored through the assessment of YAl_2p/LA143 ingot. The results show that the method can effectively assess the homogeneity degree of composite ingot through homogeneity factors. The homogeneity of YAl_2p/LA143 ingot is affected by some assessment indexes with ζ lower than 90% and η higher than 30% such as grain size, reinforcement distribution, tensile strength and elongation. With the increase of homogeneity coefficient of YAl₂ particles distribution (ζ_PD), the tensile strength and elongation of composite ingot increase exponentially, and the yield strength increases linearly.