Significant improvement in creep property of a Mg–Yb based alloy via introducing nano-spaced stacking faults

Although magnesium alloys are the lightest structural metallic material, they have poor creep resistance. We present a new mechanism for increasing their creep resistance in this paper. Nano-spaced stacking faults were introduced into a Mg-3Yb-0.6Zn-0.4Zr (wt.%) alloy by the alloying of Y, resulting in a more than two orders of magnitude reduction in the minimum creep rate. The finding provides a reference for developing Mg alloys with superior creep resistance.