Plastic deformation behavior of AZ61 magnesium alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

In order to identify the influence of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the plastic deformation capacity of the AZ61 magnesium alloy, the tensile tests were conducted at different temperatures and strain rates for the AZ61 magnesium alloy subjected to two passes of ECAP with various routes. And the corresponding deformation mechanism was analyzed. The results show that in the testing temperature range from 200 to 300C, with increasing the temperature, the elongation of the AZ61 alloy ECAPed with routes A and C increases, while that of the AZ61 alloy ECAPed with route BC decreases. The elongation of the AZ61 alloy ECAPed with route BC may reach 272% at 200C. It means that the low temperature superplasticity has been achieved. It is suggested that the plastic deformation mechanism of the ECAPed AZ61 alloy is the grain-boundary sliding mechanism controlled by grain-boundary diffusion.