Effects of basal texture on mechanical behaviour of magnesium alloy AZ31B sheet

The effect of the basal texture on the mechanical behaviour of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet is studied numerically using a recently developed Elastic Visco-Plastic Self-consistent (EVPSC) model, in which both slip and twinning contribute to plastic deformation. We simulate uniaxial tension within the sheet plane using starting textures having the basal poles tilted at varying degrees from the normal direction. It is found that increasing the tilt angle increases the uniform strain, but decreases the 0.2% proof strength and the R-value. The effect of texture on sheet metal forming is further assessed by calculating the limit strain under in-plane plane strain tension. It is demonstrated that the limit strain increases dramatically with decreasing intensity of the basal texture. The numerical results are found to be in good qualitative agreement with experimental observations. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.