Transition of dominant diffusion process during superplastic deformation in AZ61 magnesium alloys

The superplastic behavior of the AZ61 magnesium alloy sheet, processed by one-step hot extrusion and possessing medium grain sizes of ∼12 μm, has been investigated over the temperature range of 523 to 673 K. The highest superplastic elongation of 920 pct was obtained at 623 K and a deformation rate of 1×10⁻⁴ s⁻¹. In the lower and higher strain rate regimes, with apparent m values of ∼0.45 and ∼0.25, respectively, grain-boundary sliding (GBS) and dislocation creep appeared to dominate the deformation, consistent with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination. The SEM examination also revealed that individual GBS started to operate from the very initial deformation stage in the strain rate range with m∼0.45, which was attributed to the relatively high fraction (88 pct) of high-angle boundaries. The analyses of the superplastic data over 523 to 673 K and 5×10⁻⁵ to 1×10⁻³ s⁻¹ revealed a true stress exponent of ∼2, and the activation energy was close to that for grain-boundary and lattice diffusion of magnesium at 523 to 573 K and 573 to 673 K, respectively. The transition temperature of activation energy is ∼573 K, which is attributed to the change in the dominant diffusion process from grain-boundary diffusion to lattice diffusion. It is demonstrated that the effective diffusion coefficient is a valid parameter to characterize the superplastic behavior and the dominant diffusion process.