Plastic anisotropy and strain-hardening behavior of Mg–6%Li–1%Zn alloy thin sheet at elevated temperatures

Abstract

An Mg–Li–Zn (designated as LAZ61) alloy containing about 6 wt% of Li has been prepared by melting and solidification in a carbon steel crucible, and extruded at a billet preheating temperature of 200 °C. The extruded plate was then cold-rolled to a final thickness of 0.6 mm with a total reduction of approximately 82%. Tensile tests were carried out in the rolling and transverse directions and at various temperatures to explore the effects of anisotropy and temperature on mechanical properties and strain-hardening behavior. Kocks–Mecking type plots were used to illustrate different stages of strain hardening. Anisotropic behavior of LZ61 sheet were observed in the mechanical properties at all test temperatures due to the development of texture in α phase during cold-rolling and a low content of BCC β phase. The cold-rolled LZ61 alloy sheet showed stage II and stage III strain-hardening behavior at test temperatures of room temperature and 100 °C. The specimens tested at 200 °C did not show stage II strain hardening. Higher initial strain-hardening rates were observed in the transverse direction as a result of the cold-rolled fibrous structure providing more strong barriers to the dislocation movement.