Effect of Initial Microstructure Prior to Extrusion on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Extruded AZ80 Alloy with a Low Temperature and a Low Ratio

Abstract Magnesium (Mg) alloys are the lightest metal structural material for engineering applications and therefore have a wide market of applications. However, compared to steel and aluminum alloys, Mg alloys have lower mechanical properties, which greatly limits their application. Extrusion is one of the most important processing methods for Mg and its alloys. However, the effect of such a heterogeneous microstructure achieved at low temperatures on the mechanical properties is lacking investigation. In this work, commercial AZ80 alloys with different initial microstructures (as-cast and as-homogenized) were selected and extruded at a low extrusion temperature of 220 °C and a low extrusion ratio of 4. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the two extruded AZ80 alloys were investigated. The results show that homogenized-extruded (HE) sample exhibits higher strength than the cast-extruded (CE) sample, which is mainly attributed to the high number density of fine dynamic precipitates and the high fraction of recrystallized ultrafine grains. Compared to the coarse compounds existing in CE sample, the fine dynamical precipitates of Mg17(Al, Zn)12 form in the HE sample can effectively promote the dynamical recrystallization during extrusion, while they exhibit a similar effect on the size and orientation of the recrystallized grains. These results can facilitate the designing of high-strength wrought magnesium alloys by rational microstructure construction.