Microstructure and Texture Development during Melt Conditioned Twin Roll Casting and Downstream Processing in an AZ31 Magnesium Alloy

Abstract

The novel melt conditioned twin roll casting (MCTRC) process, in which the melt is conditioned by intensive shearing prior to twin roll casting, has allowed magnesium sheets to be produced with a fine and uniform microstructure and substantially reduced segregations across the sheet thickness. It is thus possible to eliminate the extensive downstream processing via repetitive hot rolling, which is required after conventional twin roll casting, and to produce sheets to the required thickness for forming. The present work was conducted to study the feasibility of producing magnesium sheets ready for stamping by the MCTRC process, focusing on the development of microstructures and textures. An AZ31 magnesium alloy was used in the investigation and MCTRC experiments were carried out to produce sheets of 6 mm and 2.5 mm in thickness respectively. After MCTRC, the 6 mm sheet was processed following the conventional procedures via homogenization, hot rolling and annealing, whereas the 2.5 sheet was only homogenized. Experimental results showed that: 1) the as-cast microstructures for both sheets were similalr in terms of grain size and distribution and their texture intensity and components were also similar, being dominated by basal components with a small fraction of primatic components; 2) downstream processing by hot rolling substantially intensified the basal textures for the 6 mm sheet; 3) the 2.5 mm sheet subjected only to homogenization after casting showed a grain structure similar to that obtained after repetitive hot rolling and annealing with substantially weakened textures. Mechanisms of texture formation and development during MCTRC and downstream processing are discussed in the paper.