Characteristic cyclic plastic deformation in ZK60 magnesium alloy

A detailed analysis of the plastic deformation characteristics was performed for an extruded ZK60 magnesium alloy under uniaxial cyclic loading along the extrusion direction. The experiments used for the analysis were performed under single-step strain-controlled loading, two-step strain-controlled loading, and stress-controlled loading. An elastic limit with an offset of 10−5 plastic strain is used for the demarcation of elastic and elastic-plastic deformation. An inflection point is used to signify a transition of the dominated deformation mechanism from twinning-detwinning to dislocation slips. The macroscopic stress-strain response of the material is intrinsically related to the microstructures of the material during cyclic loading. The elastic limit range is closely related to the microstructure of the material at the peak stress prior to the loading reversal. If the microstructure at the peak stress displays a strong basal a-texture, yielding is dominantly associated with the activation of basal slips. The elastic limit range to activate basal slips for the ZK60 magnesium alloy under investigation is 100 MPa. If the microstructure at the peak stress contains tension twins, the elastic limit range during subsequent loading reversal reflects the activation stress of detwinning/retwinning process, which can be interpreted as the critical stress to activate the gliding of twin boundaries. The stability of twin boundaries is influenced by twin volume fraction, twin morphology, and cyclic hardening. Dependent on the twin volume fraction and loading history, the elastic limit range varies from 20 MPa to 100 MPa for the material under investigation. •Detailed analysis of cyclic plastic deformation of ZK60 Mg alloy under uniaxial loading.•Microyielding dependent on microstructure at the peak stress prior to the loading reversal.•Constant elastic limit range of 100 MPa for ZK60 Mg alloy when twin-free.•Yielding dominantly associated with the activation of basal slips for basal a-texture.•Elastic limit dependent on twin volume fraction and loading history.