Improved ductility of magnesium alloys by a simple shear process followed by annealing

Mg-3Al-1Zn (AZ31) alloy sheets were processed at room temperature using a simple shear process followed by annealing. The basal texture intensity was drastically weakened and the basal pole tended to rotate 45 degrees away from the rolling direction after simple shearing. The simple sheared and annealed sample exhibits larger fracture elongations regardless of directions and its Erichsen value increases by similar to 53% compared with that of the as-received sheet. The microstructure evolution and properties were characterized and compared. (c) 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.