Superplasticity of AZ91 Alloy ECAPed with Different Routes

Abstract

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was conducted using the die with a 90° angled channel under routes A, BC and C for hot extruded AZ91 magnesium alloy. Tensile tests were carried out at 300 °C and initial strain rates ranging from 2×10−4 to 5×10−3 s−1. The experimental results show that different routes have obviously effect on elongation to failure. It is found that the highest elongation to failure is 410 % at a strain rate of 2×10−4 s−1 for the ECAPed AZ91 alloy with route BC. At the same strain rate, route BC can bring the greater superplasticitic deformation compared with routes A and C. Moreover, the strain rate sensitivity coefficient m values of about 0.3 to 0.5 are attained for the ECAPed AZ91 alloys with different routes. For the ECAPed AZ91 alloys, the main superplastic deformation mechanism is the grain boundary sliding, while the main accommodation mechanism is the dislocation creep mechanism controlled by the grain boundary diffusion.