Effects of pre-aging on microstructure evolution and deformation mechanisms of hot extruded Mg–6Zn–1Gd–1Er Mg alloys

Abstract The influence of pre-aging treatment on the microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of the Mg–6Zn–1Gd–1Er (wt.%) alloy was investigated. The microstructure analysis shows that the presence of pre-aging is beneficial to { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twin nucleation at the early stage of extrusion and inhibits the growth of twins and promotes the formation of [ 10 1 ¯ 0 ] -fiber texture components, thus accelerating the complex process of recrystallization. In the middle stage of extrusion, the extruded samples under the condition of solid solution were subjected to dynamic precipitation during severe shear deformation. The precipitation of the second phase particles followed the particle stimulating nucleation (PSN) mechanism, which increased the volume fraction of DRX grains during extrusion. In the extruded samples under the peak-aged condition, the particles appear dissolved during the severe shear deformation strain, which slows down the DRX process. In the later stage of extrusion, the small rod-shaped particles followed the PSN mechanism, and finally formed the strong fiber texture. The extruded alloy exhibits the strongest mechanical properties under the peak-aged state, with ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 346 MPa, tensile yield strength (TYS) of 217 MPa, and elongation to failure (EL) of 13.6%. The improvement of mechanical properties is mainly attributed to the existence of strong fiber texture, small rod-shaped and block-shaped phases.