Formability of magnesium sheet with rolling texture

• A formability of pure magnesium with typical rolling textures is investigated.
• Homogenization-based crystal plasticity model is employed.
• An initial orientation of the c-axis strongly affects the formability.
• Effects of deformation twinning on formability of magnesium is discussed.

A formability assessment of magnesium with typical rolling textures is conducted using a crystal plasticity model to investigate the dominant mechanical factors affecting the formability of a hexagonal metal. The mechanical properties of magnesium, which is a hexagonal metal at room temperature, are considerably different from those of cubic metals for two main reasons: the strong anisotropy at the crystalline scale due to the several types of non-identical slip systems, and deformation twinning. Therefore, the effect of these two factors should be considered. In the rolling texture of a hexagonal metal, the c-axis usually deviates in a specific direction. In this study, several different typical rolling textures of a hexagonal metal are introduced and their effect on formability is discussed. It is clarified that as the deviation of the c-axis from the normal direction of the sheet increases, the formability usually decreases. The change in the contribution of each slip system to the thickness reduction and deformation twinning are the two principal factors affecting the formability of a hexagonal metal, and the more dominant factor depends on the initial texture. It is also shown that deformation twinning plays an important role and cannot be negligible, although it is difficult for it to occur under the conditions in this study.