Deformation behaviour of rolled AZ31 sheets that were subjected to the accumulative roll bonding was investigated. Substantially refined microstructure of samples was achieved after the first and second pass through the rolling mill. Sheets texture was investigated using an X-ray diffractometer. Samples for tensile tests were cut either parallel or perpendicular to the rolling direction. Tensile tests were performed at temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 300 °C. Tensile plastic anisotropy, different from the anisotropy observed in AZ31 sheets by other authors, was observed. This anisotropy decreases with an increasing number of rolling passes and increasing deformation temperature. Grain refinement and texture are the crucial factors influencing the deformation behaviour.

Commercially available AZ31 magnesium alloy was four times extruded in an equal rectangular channel using three different routes (A, B, and C). Micro tensile deformation tests were performed at room temperature with the aim to reveal any plastic anisotropy developed during the extrusion. Samples for micro tensile experiments were cut from extruded billets in different orientations with respect to the pressing direction. Information about the microstructure of samples was obtained using the electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. Deformation characteristics (yield stress, ultimate tensile stress and uniform elongation) exhibited significant anisotropy as a consequence of different orientations between the stress direction and texture and thus different deformation mechanisms.

Continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagrams are widely used when heat treating steels and represent which type of phase will occur in a material as it is cooled at different cooling rates. CCT diagrams are constructed on the basis of dilatometry measurements on relatively small testing samples (cylindrical shape with diameter of 4mm and length of 11 mm in this study). The main aim of this work was to demonstrate the possibility of evaluating the tensile test properties using mini-tensile tests from miniature volumes (1.4 × 10⁻⁷ m³ for one sample) subsequent to determination of the CCT diagram and to extend a standard CCT diagram with information about strength, ductility and the estimated value of the work-hardening coefficient. Mini-tensile tests (MTT) were recently developed due to the low availability of experimental material and have already been successfully used for local mechanical property characterization of metals. CCT diagrams were constructed for 42CrMo4 steel prepared by the laser-directed energy deposition (L-DED) process, for commercially available 42CrMo4 steel conventionally manufactured (for comparison of traditional processing and AM preparation) and for H13 tool steel deposited by the selective laser melting (SLM) process.

Accumulative roll bonding (ARB) is one of the methods of severe plastic deformation which is relevant for industrial production of sheets. While mechanical properties of several magnesium alloys subjected to the ARB process have been studied, the physical properties have been reported only for some magnesium alloys. These properties are influenced by the texture developed during the ARB process and the temperature load. In the presented contribution, we studied thermal conductivity of an AZ31 magnesium alloy after one and two passes through the rolling mill. Thermal diffusivity was measured with the laser-flash method in the temperature range between 20 and 350 °C. Thermal conductivity depends on the number of rolling passes. The microstructure and texture of sheets are significant factors influencing thermal properties.