The degradation behavior of biodegradable Mg alloys has become a research hotspot in the fields about biodegradable metallic materials. While the most of the related publications mainly focused on the degradation rate of Mg-based materials, but rare to care about the changes of their mechanical properties during the immersion period, which can significantly affect their service performance. The link between residual strength and Mg degradation is not appreciated enough. In this work, a series media were constructed based on Hanks’ solution, the effects of inorganic ions on the degradation rate and mechanical integrity of Mg-Zn-Y-Nd alloy were investigated. The results indicated that the degradation behavior of Mg alloy was mainly controlled by degradation products and there is no direct correspondence between the degradation rate change and mechanical integrity of Mg alloy. The relevant findings are beneficial for selecting the monitoring index in Mg corrosion tests and evaluating the service reliability of Mg alloys for biomedical applications.

The degradation of Mg alloys relates to the service performance of Mg alloy biodegradable implants. In order to investigate the degradation behavior of Mg alloys as vascular stent materials in the near service environment, the hot-extruded fine-grained Mg-Zn-Y-Nd alloy microtubes, which are employed to manufacture vascular stents, were tested under radial compressive stress in the dynamic Hanks’ Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS). The results revealed that the high flow rate accelerates the degradation of Mg alloy microtubes and its degradation is sensitive to radial compressive stress. These results contribute to understanding the service performance of Mg alloys as vascular stent materials.