Reducing the anisotropy of a pre-twinned hot-rolled Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy by plane-strain compression

In the current paper, pre-compression is performed along the rolling direction (RD). Subsequently, the samples are deformed in plane-strain compression along the transverse direction (TD) and not allowed to expand in the normal direction (ND). The effect of plane-strain compression on the texture and anisotropy modification of a pre-twinned hot-rolled Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy is investigated by EBSD observation. The results reveal that the generation of { 10 1 ¯ 2 } − { 10 1 ¯ 2 } double twins in the previous { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twins dominates the plane-strain pre-compression along TD while the { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twinning is difficult to occur in the matrix due to the constraint along ND. Additionally, the { 10 1 ¯ 2 } − { 10 1 ¯ 2 } double twins generated in the previously formed { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twins effectively modify the compression behavior and enhance the compressive yield strength of the pre-compressed samples along ND. The anisotropy along RD, TD and ND is decreased.