Forming of Magnesium Alloys at 100 °C by Hydrostatic Extrusion

Abstract

Magnesium wrought alloys are of special interest for use as structural parts due to the possibility of obtaining improved and more homogeneous microstructure and mechanical properties compared with cast components. The market for magnesium wrought alloys is still relatively small, and they are only used for special applications due to the high cost of the feedstock. Currently, with the decreasing prices for the primary magnesium extrusion, magnesium has become competitive with aluminum, and is important for upcoming research and development activities. In this study hydrostatic extrusion, as a quite rarely applied technique, was used for deformation of commercial magnesium alloys at 100 °C, which is significantly below the temperature necessary for activation of new gliding systems. All experiments were carried out using typical industrial extrusion parameters like extrusion rate and extrusion ratio but with the objective of obtaining extremely fine-grained materials as are received typically from equal channel angular extrusion processing. These experiments show that the processing of magnesium alloys is possible even at a temperature of 100 °C. The limitations of this processing and the influence of process parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of extruded profiles will be discussed.