Effects of deformation parameters on microstructure and texture of Mg–Zn–Ce alloy

Abstract

Abstract Compression tests were performed on the Mg–6Zn–0.5Ce (wt.%) alloy using a Gleeble–1500 thermo- mechanical simulator testing system at temperatures of 250, 300, 350 °C and strain rates of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 s−1. The microstructure and texture evolution of the Mg–6Zn–0.5Ce alloy during hot compression were investigated by optical microscopy (OM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The results showed that Zener–Hollomon parameters obtained from the deformation processes had a significant effect on the dynamic recrystallization and texture of the Mg–6Zn–0.5Ce alloy. The fraction of undynamically recrystallized (unDRXed) regions increased, and the dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grain size decreased with increasing the Zener–Hollomon parameters. The texture intensity of the DRXed regions was weaker compared with that in the unDRXed regions, which resulted in a sharper texture intensity in the samples deformed with higher Zener–Hollomon parameters. The increase in recrystallized texture intensity was related to preferred grain growth.