Improvement of fatigue strength of a Mg–Zn–Zr alloy by integrated extrusion and equal-channel angular pressing

Fatigue performance under axisymmetric push–pull loading of a magnesium alloy Mg–6Zn–0.5Zr (ZK60) after processing by integrated extrusion and equal-channel angular pressing was investigated. Such processing was shown to nearly treble the endurance limit of the alloy, raising it to 160 MPa. It was established that the high-cycle fatigue performance of ZK60 is primarily controlled by dislocation substructure, grain size and crystal orientation, rather than the presence of intermetallic particles.