Experimental determination and theoretical prediction of twin orientations in magnesium alloy AZ31

Twin orientations in channel die compression tests were determined by means of X-ray diffraction and EBSD technique in two samples of magnesium alloy AZ31 with different initial textures. The measured orientations are compared with those calculated from different twin variants and initial orientations. To elucidate the measured results, twin strain tensor of each twin variant was also computed. It is demonstrated that the twin variant, which leads to the basal orientation, fitted the externally imposed strain tensor best and was activated at first. The texture evolution is discussed in terms of the competition between twinning and prismatic slip. (C) 2004 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.