Mechanical properties and microstructure of Magnesium Alloy from Severe Plastic Deformation

Abstract

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was chosen as the severe plastic deformation (SPD) method to process Mg alloy AZ31 to produce a highly refined microstructure to study the relationship between the resultant microstructure and mechanical properties. The ECAP process was analyzed by finite element modeling to the study the uniformity of strain distribution in a deformed workpiece. Strain uniformity can be improved by carefully choosing the die and processing parameters. A model describing the grain refinement mechanism during ECAP for AZ31 was also proposed by studying the microstructural evolution during multiple pass ECAP. The performance of AZ31 had been shown to be enhanced through a mechanical-thermo processing route which conventional processing methods could not achieve previously. New insights into the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of severe plastically deformed AZ31 have been gained through this study to link up the relationship between grain refinement, texture, deformation mechanism and microstructural stability.