Effect of rolling speeds on texture modification and mechanical properties of the AZ31 sheet by a combination of equal channel angular rolling and continuous bending at high temperature

The effect of rolling speeds varying from 0.1 to 0.4 m/s on texture modifications and mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets processed by a combination of equal channel angular rolling and continuous bending (ECAR+CB) at high temperature (550 °C) was investigated in this work. After annealing, the processed AZ31 sheets exhibit rolling direction (RD)-split texture with increasing rolling speeds. The RD-split texture component is non-basal texture and named as “Zn” texture. Due to the “Zn” texture, the Erichsen values remarkably increase to 7.4 mm at room temperature. This work suggests that ECAR+CB processing is a promising technology for texture modification in Mg alloy sheets regarding improving room formability.