Effects of repetitive upsetting-extrusion parameters on microstructure and texture evolution of Mg–Gd–Y–Zn–Zr alloy

Abstract

Repetitive upsetting-extrusion (RUE), a severe plastic deformation, was performed on the Mg-12.0Gd-4.5Y-2.0Zn-0.4Zr (wt %) alloy at different deformation temperatures in the range of 693–773 K for 1, 2 and 3 passes. The study was aimed to determine the effects of deformation temperatures and processing passes of RUE on the microstructure and texture evolution of the RUEed alloy. It is found that dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurred in the alloy and β- Mg5(Gd,Y,Zn) phase particles precipitated at grain boundaries during the RUE processing. The microstructure was refined remarkably during RUE, the microstructure distribution became more homogeneous and the degree of DRX was increased with the number of the processing passes increasing. The grain refinement was mainly caused by DRX, and the LPSO phases stimulated the DRX around the grain boundaries via particle stimulation nucleation mechanism. The microstructure and texture evolution were mainly depended on the RUE processing parameters, such as processing passes and deformation temperatures. The basal texture was gradually weakened during more processing passes and higher deformation temperatures of RUE processing. The microstructure and texture evolution of the alloy were affected more by processing passes than deformation temperatures during RUE. After 3 RUE passes, some (0001) basal planes were perpendicular to the ED and that also were parallel to the ED in some grains, which is different from that observed in both extruded alloys and other plastically deformed counterparts. The number fraction of low angle grain boundaries tended to decrease while the average misorientation angles tended to increase with the processing passes and deformation temperatures of the RUE increasing.