Effect of grain size on mechanical property of Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy

Mechanical tests of Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy with various grain sizes prepared by equal channel angular pressing, conventional extrusion and annealing revealed that compression/tensile yielding asymmetry originates from different number fractions of twinned grains. The twin lamella angle follows a normal distribution, with the maximum along the loading axis in tension but not in compression. Differently textured samples preparation via two different routes follow the Hall–Petch relation with similar slopes but exhibit an ∼50 MPa gap in yield stress.