Effect of trace addition of al on microstructure, texture and tensile ductility of Mg-6Zn-0.5Er alloy

The effects of trace addition of Al on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-extruded Mg-6Zn-0.5Er alloy were investigated in the present investigation. The results showed that the trace addition of Al affected the mechanical properties significantly. The elongation of the extruded alloy was improved markedly from 17 to 25% with the trace addition of Al. It is suggested that the improvement of ductility was mainly attributed to the modification of basal texture of the as-extruded alloy, resulting from the complete dynamic recrystallization due to the trace addition of Al. In addition, the existence of the complete dynamic recrystallization led to an obvious increase in the number fraction of high angle grain boundaries, the average misorientation angle and Schmid factors for the (0001) 〈112¯0〉 slip, which also have contributed to the improvement of ductility.