The electroplastic effect on the deformation and twinning behavior of AZ31 foils during micro-bending tests

Electric assisted (EA) plasticity is a promising technology to improve the formability of hard-deformed materials like Mg alloys. Herein miniature three-point bending tests and ex-situ EBSD characterizations were executed to study the electroplastic effect (EPE) on the mechanical responses, deformation mechanisms, and microstructure evolution of Mg foils with different grain size and EA conditions. The EPE affects the material's strength and invalidates the Hall-Petch effect. The ex-situ microstructure evolution tracking demonstrates the significant suppression of the EPE on deformation twinning; the EPE facilitates the activation of the non-basal slip to maintain the deformation compatibility. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

Electric assisted plasticity is a promising technology for improving the formability of hard-deformed materials like Mg alloys. The electroplastic effect (EPE) affects the material's strength and suppresses deformation twinning, while facilitating the activation of non-basal slip.