Effects of the Strain Rate and Temperature on the Microstructural Evolution of Twin-Rolled Cast Wrought AZ31B Alloys Sheets

This article investigates the effects of the strain rate and temperature on the microstructural evolution of twin-rolled cast wrought AZ31B sheets. This was achieved through static heating and through tensile test performed at strain rates from 10⁻⁴ to 10⁻¹ s⁻¹ and temperatures between room temperature (RT) and 300 °C. While brittle fracture with high stresses and limited elongation was observed at the RT, ductile behavior was obtained at higher temperatures with low strain rates. The strain rate sensitivity and activation energy calculations indicate that grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion are the two rate-controlling mechanisms at warm and high temperatures, respectively. An analysis of the evolution of the microstructure provided some indications of the most probable deformation mechanisms in the material: twinning operates at lower temperatures, and dynamic recrystallization dominates at higher temperatures. The static evolution of the microstructure was also studied, proving a gradual static grain growth of the AZ31B with annealing temperature and time.