High speed rolling of Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy: texture and microstructure analysis

Abstract

High speed rolling (HSR) of 1000 m min⁻¹ was employed to successfully roll AZ31 alloy in one pass with 65% reduction in thickness at 300 and 450°C. The rollability, texture and microstructure after HSR, in comparison with low speed rolling (15 m min⁻¹), improved significantly. It is suggested that the double peak and weaker basal texture obtained after HSR are attributed to the activation of compression and double twins. After annealing, the double peak basal texture is replaced by a single peak one, which may be due to preferential grain growth of basal grains.

Keywords:

• Magnesium alloy
• High speed rolling
• Grain refinement
• Shear bands
• Rollability

The authors would like to thank Mr Miyamoto and Mr Hattori for their kind support in the high speed rolling experiments at Osaka University. Thanks are also due to the Natural Resources Canada's CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory for careful technical support. This study was supported by the NSERC Magnesium Strategic Research Network (MagNET) and MEDA Fellowship from the Faculty of Engineering, McGill University.