Microstructure and texture characteristics of ZK60 Mg alloy processed by cyclic extrusion and compression

The microstructure and crystallographic texture characteristics of an extruded ZK60 Mg alloy subjected to cyclic extrusion and compression (CEC) up to 8 passes at 503 K were investigated. The local crystallographic texture, grain size and distribution, and grain boundary character distributions were analyzed using high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The results indicate that the microstructure is refined significantly by the CEC processing and the distributions of grain size tend to be more uniform with increasing CEC pass number. The fraction of low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) decreases after CEC deformation, and a high fraction of high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) is revealed after 8 passes of CEC. Moreover, the initial fiber texture becomes random during CEC processing and develops a new texture.