The introduction of rare-earth (RE) elements into magnesium (Mg) alloys can significantly improve their ductility, thereby extending the applications of Mg products. However, the impacts of their chemical composition, temperature and processing methods on the mechanical properties of Mg products are highly debatable. In this work, we systematically investigate the deformation behaviors of Mg–Nd and Mg–Zn–Nd alloys using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) characterization. The samples were deformed to different stress levels to study the microstructure and texture development during channel die compression. The results reveal that the room temperature formability of the Mg–Nd alloy can be enhanced with the addition of Zn. This is attributed to the higher activities of prismatic slip and tensile twinning in the Mg–Zn–Nd alloy as compared to the binary counterpart, facilitating strain accommodation. When the strain increases, the growing and merging of the same twin variant rapidly consumes the parent grain, which is responsible for the texture modification from the transverse to the basal direction. At elevated temperatures, the twinning is suppressed in both alloys due to the decreased critical resolved shear stress of the non-basal slip systems. Additionally, an obvious sigmoidal yielding phenomenon is observed due to the multiple activation of the different deformation modes. These findings offer valuable insights into the evolution of the microstructure and texture during plane strain compression, elucidating the connections between material chemical composition, processing and mechanical properties, which are important for the advancement of Mg alloy application.

In this work, the microstructure and texture of Mg-1.0Al-xZn-0.2Mn-0.5Ca (wt.%, x = 0, 1) alloys, which were produced via conventional casting or twin roll casting (TRC), were investigated, and their relation to the mechanical properties of the sheets at the final gage was analyzed. In the Zn-containing AZMX1100 alloy sheets, the amount and size of the secondary phases were significantly reduced, in comparison to the Zn-free AMX100 alloy sheet. The TRC sheet shows a smaller grain structure and fine secondary phases in comparison to the sheets produced via the conventional casting process. The texture of the AMX100 sheet is characterized by the basal poles tilted in the sheet rolling direction (RD). In the AZMX1100 sheets, the texture with the tilted basal poles towards the RD and transverse direction (TD) was developed after recrystallization annealing, while the tilting angle of the basal pole in the TD is larger than in the RD. There is no significant difference in the texture between the sheets produced by the casting and TRC process. The highest yield strength was obtained in the AZMX1100 sheet produced by the TRC process, and all examined sheets showed the mechanical anisotropy in accordance with their textures.

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An understanding of deformation behavior and texture development is crucial for the formability improvement of Mg alloys. X-ray line profile analysis using the convolutional multiple whole profile (CMWP) fitting method allows the experimental determination of dislocation densities separately for different Burgers vectors up to a high deformation degree. A wider use of this technique still requires exploration and testing of various materials. In this regard, the reliability of the CMWP fitting method for Mg–Zn–Y alloys, in terms of the dislocation activity during tensile deformation, was verified in the present study by the combined analysis of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) investigation and visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) simulation. The predominant activity of non-basal 〈a〉 dislocation slip was revealed by CMWP analysis, and Schmid factor analysis from the EBSD results supported the higher potential of non-basal dislocation slip in comparison with basal 〈a〉 dislocation slip. Moreover, the relative slip activities obtained by the VPSC simulation also show a similar trend to those obtained from the CMWP evaluation.