Achieving Strength-Ductility Synergy in the AZ61 Mg Alloy Through Twin Engineering
YE Tie1,*, GAO Zhenyu2, ZHANG Zijian3, ZHANG Mingyu3, QIN Yong4, REN Zheng1, WANG Yi1
1 Intelligent Manufacturing Research Institute, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang 473061, Henan, China 2 Technology Centre of Ansteel Co., Ltd., Anshan 114009, Liaoning, China 3 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China 4 Ansteel Large-Scale Plant, Anshan 114021, Liaoning, China
Abstract: Enhancing the mechanical properties of commercial Mg-Al-Zn alloys represents a crucial challenge for extending their structural load-bearing applications, necessitating breakthroughs in structural design and processing optimization. This study employs a twin engineering strategy to develop a commercial AZ61 alloy exhibiting exceptional strength and ductility, achieving a tensile strength of 395.5 MPa with 20.2% fracture elongation. The alloy was processed through room-temperature multi-axial compression followed by short-term annealing, yielding a refined microstructure characterized by an average grain size of 7.8 μm and a high-density {1012} tensile twin structure. Statistically quantified twin boundary fraction reached 65%. Microstructural and theoretical analyses demonstrate that the designed processing route promotes the formation of high-density {1012} tensile twins with reduced interlamellar spacing. These densely distributed twins significantly reduce the mean free path of dislocations, promote rapid dislocation accumulation, and substantially enhance work-hardening capacity. Consequently, both strength and ductility are synergistically improved during room-temperature tensile deformation. These findings elucidate the efficacy of multi-axial compression coupled with short-term annealing in generating {1012} twin structures to modulate deformation mechanisms and mechanical properties in AZ61 alloy. This work establishes a theoretical framework and experimental foundation for designing cost-effective, high-performance magnesium alloy wrought billets.
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