Plastic Deformation Mechanism of High Strength and Toughness ZK61 Magnesium Alloy Plate by Multipass Horizontal Continuous Rolling

Abstract

ZK61 magnesium-alloy plate with high tensile strength and elongation is obtained by combined multipass symmetric hot rolling and asymmetric warm rolling. Deformation history considering varying strain rate obtained from the macro-finite element analysis of the selected passes are introduced into the viscoplastic self-consistent model (VPSC) as initial boundary conditions for macro- multiscale and micro-multiscale coupling analysis. VPSC simulation results show that in the initial stage of rolling deformation, the basal <a> slip is the dominated deformation mode, supplemented by prismatic <a> slip and pyramidal <c+a> slip. With increased rolling strain, the pyramidal <c+a> slip presents competitive relationship with basal <a> slip, and the activation amount of {101—1} compression twins is limited. During asymmetric rolling, the basal <a> slip is dominant, followed by the pyramidal <c+a> slip. Experimental results show that the basal texture is gradually strengthened after symmetric rolling, and grain size is refined due to the activation and recrystallization of twins. Asymmetric rolling makes the basal texture deflect 10° to the rolling direction and further refine the grain size. With the ongoing of symmetric rolling, the mechanical anisotropy of the plate weakens, and the yield strength, tensile strength, and plasticity of the material improves. In particular, after asymmetric rolling, the tensile strength in the RD and TD directions of the plate reaches 391.2 MPa and 398.9 MPa, whereas the elongation reaches 19.8% and 25.5%.