Effects of homogenizing treatment on the microstructure and properties of ZA35-0.3Zr alloy were investigated by observing microstructure

testing mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior

and the optimized temperature and time of homogenizing treatment were presented.The results show that severe dendritic segregation and non-equilibrium β phases can be observed in as-cast structure of ZA35-0.3Zr alloy with severe Cu-enrichment on the grain boundary.With the increase of homogenizing treatment time

the CuZn5 phase is disappeared gradually

and eutectoid decomposition of β phase is increased.After homogenizing at 370 ℃ for 12 h

the CuZn5 phase disappears due to dissolving into the matrix to make dendrite segregation decrease significantly

and the absence of non-equilibrium β phase at grain boundaries can be observed.Meanwhile

tensile strength and elongation of the ZA35-0.3Zr alloy reach 306 MPa and 7.35%

respectively.The open circuit potential of homogenized ZA35-0.3Zr alloy is changed to positive

and the corrosion current density is reduced by 33.1%

compared with ZA35-0.3Zr alloy without homogenizing treatment in 3.5% NaCl solution

leading to the improvement of corrosion resistance of the alloy.The optimized homogenization treatment is 370 ℃×12 h.