Effect of Processing Routes on AZ31 Alloy Processed By Severe Plastic Deformation

Abstract

Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) is one of the promising techniques in Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) used to refine the grain size of the metals and its alloys. The main aim of the present study is to give an in depth knowledge of effect of processing routes on AZ31 alloy in ECAP process. In this, processing route A, route C, and route Bc are used to refine the grain size of AZ31 alloy up to two ECAP passes at a temperature of 498K. Initial average grain size of the as received material was found to be 31.8μm. Further, it was reduced to 14.0μm, 15.9μm and 13.3μm for processing route A, route C, and route Bc respectively. Mechanical properties of the AZ31 alloy are experimentally evaluated for three processing routes. The percentage elongation of the material was found to be increased with increasing number of passes. Maximum microhardness of the material was observed in route Bc when compared to route A and route C.