Anisotropic cyclic deformation behavior of extruded ZA81M magnesium alloy

Anisotropic cyclic deformation behavior and fatigue life of extruded ZA81M magnesium alloy were investigated. The alloy showed a tilted basal texture towards extrusion direction, which resulted in the different cyclic deformation behavior along extrusion direction and transverse direction. The tilted basal texture made basal slip favorable along extrusion direction, thus leading to the decrease of twinning deformation during compression, which resulted in the less asymmetric hysteresis loops and the lower mean stress along extrusion direction. The fatigue life was longer for specimens along extrusion direction than for those along transverse direction. The difference in the deformation mode was considered to be one of the reasons for the superior fatigue property, aside from the alleviated detrimental effect from the tensile mean stress for specimens along extrusion direction.