Experimental study on influence of section thickness on mechanical behavior of die-cast AM60 magnesium alloy

Influence of section thickness on mechanical behavior of die-cast AM60 magnesium alloy has been experimentally studied. Tension, compression and shear tests with this material were performed on a universal test machine at strain rates from 5 × 10−4 s−1 to 5 × 10−2 s−1. Specimens were cut from plates with five as-cast section thicknesses of 6.5 mm, 5.2 mm, 3.9 mm, 2.6 mm and 1.3 mm. According to the test results, flow stress becomes less sensitive to section thickness with larger section thickness, and the influence of strain rate on flow stress is also decreasing with larger section thickness. At different stress states, the tested material follows the von-Mises yield criterion. And stress state is found to be the main factor influencing the fracture behavior.

► Tension, compression and shear tests were performed with die-casting AM60 alloy.
► Specimens were cut off from plates of five different section thicknesses.
► Influence of section thickness on flow stress becomes weaker with thicker specimen.
► Flow stress is less affected by strain rate with thicker specimen.
► No clear monotonic relationship exerts between fracture strain and section thickness.