Microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of extruded AZ31 Mg alloy during small strain multi-directional forging with gradient cooling

A new small strain multi-directional forging (MDF) with gradient cooling was proposed to tailor the microstructure and improve the mechanical properties of Mg alloys. Using MDF with a cumulative strain of 2.7, a uniform fine-grained microstructure with an uncommon bimodal basal texture was achieved. Influenced by the Schmid factor, the twins in the< 10–10 > type grains rotated the basal poles toward the last forging direction (LFD), whereas the twins in the< 11–20 > type grains refined the microstructure. The dominant refinement mechanisms at high temperatures were twinning segmentation (TS) and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX). It gradually became continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) as the temperature was lowered. Twinning-induced recrystallization (TDRX) also occurred at 200 ℃. The plastic deformation and DRX mechanism affected the texture evolution of the grains. With a cumulative strain of less than 0.3, {10–12} twinning was dominant and responsible for the formation of the< 0001 > //LFD texture. As the cumulative strain increased to 0.9, multiple slips began to dominate the deformation, and a relatively stable< 10–12 > –< 11–24 > //LFD bimodal basal texture was formed. In contrast, the DRXs had little effect on texture types. The yield strengths were affected by the grain sizes and textures during MDF. The fluctuations of strength in the initial stage were mainly attributed to the texture change. When the texture was stabilized, the increases in strength were owing to grain refinement. The yield strengths can be accurately estimated by an improved Hall-Petch relation that includes the texture effect.