An electron-backscattered diffraction study of the texture evolution in a coarse-grained AZ31 magnesium alloy deformed in tension at elevated temperatures

Electron-backscattered diffraction (EBSD) has been used to investigate the texture evolution during tensile deformation at temperatures between 673 and 773 K of a coarse-grained commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy. A weak (0001) fiber texture was initially present in the hot-rolled magnesium alloy plate. The 0001] directions of the grains spread 0 to 45 deg around the normal direction (ND) of the magnesium alloy plate. This pre-existing weak texture evolved during tensile deformation into a strong texture close to the {0001} 〈1 00〉. The 0001] directions of the grains rotated toward the orientations perpendicular to the tension axis of the samples, indicating that the 〈11 0〉 slip system appeared to be the most active slip system, especially in the early stages of deformation. The EBSD Schmid-factor analysis revealed that, however, with an increase in strain and the rotation of the (0001) slip plane, the {11 2} 〈11 〉 slip system appeared to be more favorable. The {1 00} 〈11 0〉 and {1 01} 〈11 0〉 slip systems remained favored throughout the strains investigated, indicating that {1 00} and {1 01} are two important slip planes for cross slip using the 〈11 0〉 slip vector. It is found that the misorientation across one coarse grain (as high as 38.2 deg) is accommodated by low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs). The formation of these LAGBs may be an intermediate stage of the coarse grain refinement that occurred during deformation. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Processing and Properties of Structural Materials,” which occurred during the Fall TMS meeting in Chicago, Illinois, November 9–12, 2003, under the auspices of the Structural Materials Committee.