Microstructure evolution and mechanical behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy processed by equal-channel angular pressing

AZ31 Mg alloy bar was subjected to 8-pass equal-channel angular pressing(ECAP) at 623 K. Microstructure evolution was observed by optical microscopy(OM) on cross section and X-ray diffraction analysis. The room temperature mechanical properties of the ECAP processed specimens were also investigated. A fine-grained structure with an average sub-grain size of 9 μm is obtained after 7 ECAP passes. XRD analysis indicates that after ECAP, in placing of {100}, planes {101} and {102} become the dominant directions that are favourable for grain refinement. ECAP processed AZ31 Mg alloy exhibits significant improvement in elongation but decrease in strength. The elongation of the specimen increases continuously up to 2 passes and then remains stable at further passes. This improvement can be related to the evolution of crystallographic texture and the scattered orientation of the basal plane (0001).