Reciprocating Upsetting-Extrusion (RUE) deformation process can significantly refine the grains size and weaken the basal plane texture by applying a large cumulative strain to the alloy, which is of great significance to weaken the anisotropy of magnesium (Mg) alloys and increase the application range. In this paper, the Mg-8.27Gd-3.18Y-0.43Zr (wt %) alloy was subjected to isothermal multi-passes RUE. The microstructure and texture evolution, crystal orientation-dependent deformation mechanism of the alloy after deformation were investigated. The results clearly show that with the increase of RUE process, the grains are significantly refined through continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) mechanisms, the uniformity of the microstructure is improved, and the texture intensity is reduced. At the same time, a large number of particle phases are dynamically precipitated during the deformation process, promoting grain refinement by the particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN) mechanism. The typical [10-10] fiber texture is produced after one pass due to the basal plane of the deformed grains with a relatively high proportion is gradually parallel to the ED during extrusion process. However, the texture concentration is reduced compared with the traditional extrusion deformation, indicating that the upsetting deformation has a certain delay effect on the subsequent extrusion texture generation. After three or four passes deformation, the grain orientation is randomized due to the continuous progress of the dynamic recrystallization process.

The decreasing temperature reciprocating upsetting-extrusion (RUE) deformation experiment was carried out on Mg-Gd-Y-Zr alloy to study RUE deformation on the influence of microstructure of the alloy. This work showed that with the gradual increase of RUE deformation passes, the continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) process and the discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) process occurred at the same time, and the grain refinement effect was obvious. Particulate precipitation induced the generation of DRX through particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN). In addition, after one pass of RUE deformation, the alloy produced a strong basal texture. As the RUE experiment proceeded, the basal texture intensity decreased. The weakening of the texture was due to the combined effect of DRX and alternating loading forces in the axial and radial directions. After four RUE passes, the mechanical properties of the alloy had been significantly improved, which was the result of the combined effect of dislocation strengthening, fine grain strengthening, and second phase strengthening.