Effect of Alloying Element on Deformation Behavior of Mg Alloys

MasterAs the lightest of structural alloys, Mg alloys have yet to see significant application in automobiles, particularly in sheet form due to their poor formability at room temperature, originating from their strong basal texture and limited number of slip systems. Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted to improve the formability of Mg alloys by alloy modification and weakening/randomizing the texture. Although the effect of alloying elements on the modification of texture is relatively well understood, the intrinsic effect of alloying elements on deformation behavior of Mg alloys is not clearly understood yet. The present work is aimed at having a better understanding of the effect of alloying elements on deformation behavior of Mg alloys. Among various elements utilized in Mg alloys, four representative alloying elements have been chosen; Al and Zn that are most commonly used alloying elements in Mg alloys, Sn that is known to increase ductility and promote significant precipitation hardening in Mg alloys, and Y that represents rare earth elements used in numerous Mg alloys. The binary alloys containing these elements have been cast and subjected to various thermomechanical treatment to have the similar grain size. Their deformation behavior has been analyzed by in-situ SEM and EBSD and compared with the VPSC simulation analysis to identify the role of each alloying element in the deformation behavior