Simulation-aided analysis on mechanical properties of dilute Mg-Zn-Ca alloy sheets

Abstract

The relationship between Zn content and room temperature (RT) mechanical properties of dilute Mg-xZn-0.1Ca (x = 0.1, 0.2,0.3, 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 in wt%) alloy sheets was investigated. The index Erichsen (IE) value, an indicator of stretch formability, was found to increase significantly from 6.6 mm to 8.4 mm by increasing the Zn content from 0.2 wt% to 0.3 wt%. Visco-Plastic Self-Consistent (VPSC) simulation revealed there was no apparent difference in the relative activity of deformation modes in Mg-0.2Zn-0.1Ca and Mg-0.3Zn-0.1Ca alloys. On the other hand, electron back-scattered diffraction observation showed that a component having basal poles tilted towards the transverse direction (TD) began to appear when 0.3 wt% of Zn was added, and the typical TD-split texture was developed when the Zn content was increased to more than 1.5 wt%. Therefore, the rapid improvement of RT formability observed in this study can be attributed to the formation of TD-split texture. In addition to this, the efficient scheme for parameter fitting required to use VPSC simulation was also proposed in this study.