Deformation behavior and microstructure of Mg-13Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr alloy during the rotating forward extrusion process

•A new deformation method of RFE was proposed.•RFE can increase strain and significantly refine grains compared with FE method.•Microstructure and texture evolution of N = 0 and N = 100 were studied for comparison. This study proposed an effective plastic deformation technique, rotating forward extrusion (RFE) for producing rare-earth (RE) Mg alloy bars. The results showed that the equivalent strain increased significantly and the equivalent stress continuously decreased with increasing rotation revolutions. The metal streamline of the edge of the sample was along the extrusion direction (ED), and the center part was perpendicular to the ED. The grains were obviously refined, complete dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior was achieved, and the basal texture was weakened with increasing rotation revolutions during the RFE process.