Effect of Electropulsing on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AZ31 Alloys Manufactured by Cold Drawing

A fine-diameter AZ31 magnesium alloy wire was treated with cold drawing and electropulsing treatment (EPT) to explore the influence of processing conditions on microstructural evolution and mechanical properties. An ultrafine-grained structure accompanied by the development of a weak basal texture was formed because of static recrystallization originating from the cold-drawn samples under EPT processing. The AZ31 alloy wires exhibited a good combination of tensile strength and ductility in tensile tests at room temperature. In particular, the highest ultimate tensile strength of 390 MPa was achieved in the specimen EPT-processed at 30 mu s-5 min. In addition to such high strength, elongation reaches 29.5% in the specimen. This substantially improved strength and ductility were attributed to the fine-grain strengthening effects and weakening of the basal texture component. Finally, it is proposed that cold drawing and EPT are promising ways to produce high strength, high ductility Mg alloy wire products.