Microstructure damage evolution associated with cyclic deformation for extruded AZ31B magnesium alloy

Fatigue damage evolution of extruded AZ31B magnesium (Mg) alloy is investigated under strain-controlled tension-compression loading along the extrusion direction at various strain amplitudes, and the different cyclic deformation behaviors are observed. At the strain amplitude of 2%, the tensile peak stress displays significant cyclic softening, whereas the compressive peak stress shows consistent cyclic hardening. At 1%, moderate cyclic hardening is observed at both the tensile peak and compressive peak stresses. At 0.5%, the tensile peak stress presents stable cyclic hardening, whereas the compressive peak stress almost keeps constant. The microstructure morphologies associated with the cyclic deformation are analyzed by scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The degree of deformation twins is evaluated by analyzing X-ray diffraction (XRD) using a normalized parameter λ. The results show the fatigue crack initiation modes and its propagation modes are dependent on the strain amplitude. At 2%, grain boundary (GB) cracking and triple joint cracking are detected after 1st loading cycle. At 1%, fatigue crack initiates at grain boundary (GB cracking), twin boundary (TB cracking) and triple joint of three neighboring grains. Both grain boundary induced (GB-induced) intergranular and persistent slip band induced (PSB-induced) transgranular propagation modes play an important role in the early-stage crack growth. At 0.5%, crack initiation modes are similar to that at 1%, but GB-induced intergranular propagation mode dominates the early-stage crack growth. The effects of the microstructure (texture, grain size and uniformity) on the fatigue damage behavior are discussed.