Effects of percent reduction and specimen orientation on the ratcheting behavior of hot-rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy

Uniaxial cyclic loading tests were carried out to investigate the effects of percent reduction and specimen orientation on the ratcheting behavior of hot-rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy. It was found that the alloy exhibited the following characteristic behaviors with increasing numbers of loading cycles: an apparent cyclic softening was observed first, then a cyclic hardening occurred, and finally a tendency toward stabilization appeared. Anisotropic ratcheting behavior was observed in all the alloys. The percent reduction and specimen orientation did not influence the cyclic softening/hardening behavior or the final ratcheting strain variation trend of with the mean stress, the peak stress and the stress amplitude. The percent reduction only reduced the ratcheting strain.