Residual stress and its effect on the mechanical properties of Y-doped Mg alloy fabricated via back-pressure assisted equal channel angular pressing (ECAP-BP)

In this study, pure magnesium (Mg) and Mg-0.6wt% yttrium (Y) binary alloy were fabricated via casting followed by room temperature equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) using an applied back pressure (BP). Microstructural examination after ECAP-BP revealed a fine-grained Mg-Y alloy with a high residual stress level, whereas, the pure Mg exhibited a well-recrystallized microstructure with uniform and equiaxed grains, but retaining very little residual stress. The Y atoms were present in the Mg matrix as solid solutes and acted as dislocation and grain boundary blockers, thus suppressing dynamic recovery and/or recrystallization during the ECAP process. The Mg-Y alloy had an average grain size of ~400nm, approximately one order smaller than that of pure Mg. The combination of high residual stress and ultrafine grains of the Mg-Y alloy gave rise to a significant difference in its mechanical behavior from that of the pure Mg, under both quasi-static and dynamic compressive loading.