The beneficial effect of AgIn addition on deformation behavior, microstructure and texture in Mg–Al–Zn alloy during single pass warm rolling

Abstract

Abstract In this study microstructure, texture and deformation behavior of Mg–3Al–1Zn (alloy-1) and Mg–3Al–1Zn–0.5AgIn (alloy-2) were investigated. The alloys were subjected to single pass thickness reductions of 30%, 50% and 60% at 300 °C (573 K) followed by annealing at 400 °C (673 K). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray based macro-texture, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction analysis (EBSD) were performed to investigate the effect of AgIn addition on deformation and annealing behavior. A silver-containing second phase in the form of fine precipitates was observed in alloy-2 during rolling which remained thermally stable during subsequent annealing. An ultrafine microstructure was observed for alloy-2 in comparison to alloy-1 after rolling. EBSD based Schmid factor (SF) analysis revealed a significant contribution of extension twinning, basal slip, pyramidal 〈 c + a 〉 slip and prismatic slip in alloy-2. In contrast, contraction twinning was the predominant deformation mode in alloy-1. The combined activity of larger number of deformation modes resulted in improved formability, refined microstructure and a weak deformation texture in alloy-2. The improved rolling response was mainly attributed to the combined contribution of multi deformation modes.