Texture, microstructure, and surface mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloys processed by ECASD

The current work presents the results on Mg AZ31B alloy sheets subject to four passes using Equal Channel Angular Sheet Drawing (ECASD) at various temperatures (25, 100, and 200°C). Textures are determined by laboratory X-ray diffraction and EBSD. EBSD allows the evaluation of the evolution of crystal sizes in function of the distance to the surface and the presence of twinning. Twinning is evident by the analysis of the textures, which show mainly two components, one due to the spin induced by the shearing of ECASD and the other one as a direct product of twinning. Micro-hardness, by Knoop tests on the lateral face of the sheets, are performed, allowing the determination of the influence of SPD on the hardness from surface to surface, going through the center of the sheet. Almost 50% increase on hardening, with respect to the non-processed material, is obtained near to the surface after four and six passes. The effectiveness as a hardening technique declined after the first four passes.