An electron-backscattered diffraction study of the texture evolution in a coarse-grained AZ31 magnesium alloy deformed in tension at elevated temperatures

Abstract

Electron-backscattered diffraction (EBSD) has been used to investigate the texture evolution during tensile deformation at temperatures between 673 and 773 K of a coarse-grained commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy. A weak (0001) fiber texture was initially present in the hot-rolled magnesium alloy plate. The [0001] directions of the grains spread 0 to 45 deg around the normal direction (ND) of the magnesium alloy plate. This pre-existing weak texture evolved during tensile deformation into a strong texture close to the {0001} 〈1 $$\bar 1$$ 00〉. The [0001] directions of the grains rotated toward the orientations perpendicular to the tension axis of the samples, indicating that the 〈11 $$\bar 2$$ 0〉 slip system appeared to be the most active slip system, especially in the early stages of deformation. The EBSD Schmid-factor analysis revealed that, however, with an increase in strain and the rotation of the (0001) slip plane, the {11 $$\bar 2$$ 2} 〈11 $$\bar 2\bar 3$$ 〉 slip system appeared to be more favorable. The {1 $$\bar 2$$ 00} 〈11 $$\bar 1$$ 0〉 and {1 $$\bar 2$$ 01} 〈11 $$\bar 2$$ 0〉 slip systems remained favored throughout the strains investigated, indicating that {1 $$\bar 1$$ 00} and {1 $$\bar 1$$ 01} are two important slip planes for cross slip using the 〈11 $$\bar 2$$ 0〉 slip vector. It is found that the misorientation across one coarse grain (as high as 38.2 deg) is accommodated by low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs). The formation of these LAGBs may be an intermediate stage of the coarse grain refinement that occurred during deformation.