Effects of hot ring forging on microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy

AZ31 alloy ring was processed by hot ring forging at different processing temperatures. Then the relationship between tensile properties and microstructural parameters including grain size and texture of the ring were investigated by using tensile test along three orthogonal directions. After hot ring forging, the grain structure of the AZ31 alloy ring is significantly refined and the grains grow gradually with increasing the finish die forging temperature. The texture feature in the ring changes with the forging temperature, a single peak basal texture is formed after finish die forging at lower temperature, while there exhibits a double-peak texture at higher temperature and the basal poles tilt further away from the center of (0002) pole figure with increasing the finish die forging temperature. Significant mechanical anisotropy is found for the ring and attributed to varied deformation mechanisms along different directions. Effects of grain size and texture on mechanical behavior are discussed.