Microstructure and Texture Evolution of Mg-Gd-Y-Zr Alloy during Reciprocating Upsetting-Extrusion

Reciprocating Upsetting-Extrusion (RUE) deformation process can significantly refine the grains size and weaken the basal plane texture by applying a large cumulative strain to the alloy, which is of great significance to weaken the anisotropy of magnesium (Mg) alloys and increase the application range. In this paper, the Mg-8.27Gd-3.18Y-0.43Zr (wt %) alloy was subjected to isothermal multi-passes RUE. The microstructure and texture evolution, crystal orientation-dependent deformation mechanism of the alloy after deformation were investigated. The results clearly show that with the increase of RUE process, the grains are significantly refined through continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) mechanisms, the uniformity of the microstructure is improved, and the texture intensity is reduced. At the same time, a large number of particle phases are dynamically precipitated during the deformation process, promoting grain refinement by the particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN) mechanism. The typical [10-10] fiber texture is produced after one pass due to the basal plane of the deformed grains with a relatively high proportion is gradually parallel to the ED during extrusion process. However, the texture concentration is reduced compared with the traditional extrusion deformation, indicating that the upsetting deformation has a certain delay effect on the subsequent extrusion texture generation. After three or four passes deformation, the grain orientation is randomized due to the continuous progress of the dynamic recrystallization process.