Characterization of AZ31B, AZ61A and AZ80A magnesium alloys with an emphasis on temperature compensation for their application to a hot forging

Abstract

Flow characterization of AZ31B, AZ61A, and AZ80A alloys is conducted using a hot cylinder compression test. The effects of friction and temperature on their flow behaviors are studied. The numerical results show that the effect of friction on the compression load-stroke curve (CLSC) is negligible, whereas the effect of temperature on flow behavior is substantial. A general method for temperature compensation during the hot cylinder compression test using the general C-m flow model was presented. With the flow behaviors by the temperature compensation scheme, formability evaluation using the macroscopic instability index (MII) showed that AZ80A exhibited distinct macroscopic instability during the test, as revealed by its CLSCs. The three materials were used for hot-forging of an automotive, magnesium alloy bracket. The validity of the methodology was verified for AZ31B. The overall shapes and the overlapping defects of predictions and experiments were compared. The three magnesium alloys were numerically and experimentally compared in terms of their flow behaviors and formabilities during the fabrication of real automotive parts.