Intergranular Cracking in Mg-Gd-Y Alloy during Tension Test

Abstract

The intergranular cracking in the Mg-Gd-Y alloy was investigated by an in situ tension test combined with an electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) measurement and digital image correlation (DIC). During the tension test, the crack was found at the triangle point of the grain boundary area with profuse slip traces. DIC results show that inhomogeneous strain distribution can be found at the triangle point area, leads to serious deformation incompatibility at this point. This also leads to a weak point for crack initiation, and as tension strain increases, the crack would extend from the weak point along the grain boundary.