Enhancing room temperature mechanical properties of Mg-9Al-Zn alloy by multi-pass equal channel angular extrusion

Influence of equal channel angular extrusion on room temperature mechanical properties of cast Mg-9Al-Zn alloy was investigated. The results show that room temperature mechanical properties of Mg-9Al-Zn alloy, such as yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation, can be improved heavily by equal channel angular extrusion. Processing routes, processing temperature and extrusion passes have important influence on room temperature mechanical properties of processed Mg-9Al-Zn alloy by equal channel angular extrusion. The optimum room temperature mechanical properties such as yield strength of 209 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 339 MPa and elongation of 14.1%, can be obtained when Mg-9Al-Zn alloy was processed by equal channel angular extrusion for 6 passes at route B-C at 498 K. Large bulk materials of Mg-9Al-Zn alloy with average grain size of 4 mu m and high mechanical properties can be prepared. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.