Influence of homogenising and extrusion on plasticity of as cast AZ31 magnesium alloy

Abstract

Forward extrusion experiments of as cast AZ31 magnesium alloy were carried out at different temperatures and different extrusion ratios using the homogenised and non‐homogenised billets. The elongation of pre‐ and post‐extrusion of the two different initial state billets were investigated. Experimental results show that elongation will increase when the as cast AZ31 magnesium alloy is treated by homogenising. Regardless of whether the billets are treated by homogenising, the elongation of post‐extrusion is improved compared with that of pre‐extrusion. The elongation of post‐extrusion using the homogenised billet is higher than that of the non‐homogenised one.

Keywords:

• As cast AZ31 magnesium alloy
• Forward extrusion
• Elongation
• Homogenising treatment

This work is aided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 50605059), International Cooperation Project of Shanxi Province (project no. 2009081012) and Program for the Top Young Academic Leaders of Higher Learning Institutions of Shanxi (grant no. 20090319ZX), for which the authors would like to take this opportunity to express their appreciation.