Microstructure, texture evolution and yield strength symmetry improvement of as-extruded ZK60 Mg alloy via multi-directional impact forging

Multi-direction impact forging (MDIF) was applied to the as-extruded ZK60 Mg alloy, and the microstructure, texture evolution and yield strength symmetry were investigated in the current study. The results showed that the average grain size of forged piece was greatly refined to 5.3 µm after 120 forging passes, which was ascribed to the segmenting effect of {10–12} twins and the subsequent multiple rounds of dynamic recrystallization (DRX). A great deal of {10–12} twins were activated at the beginning of MDIF process, which played an important role in grain refinement. With forging proceeding, continuous and discontinuous DRX were successively activated, resulting in the fully DRXed microstructure. Meanwhile, the forged piece exhibited a unique four-peak texture, and the initial <10−10>//ED fiber texture component gradually evolved into multiple texture components composed of <0001>//FFD (first forging direction) and <11–20>//FFD texture. The special strain path was the key to the formation of the unique four-peak texture. The {10–12} twinning and basal slip were two dominant factors to the evolution of texture during MDIF process. Grain strengthening and dislocation strengthening were two main strengthening mechanisms of the forged piece. Besides, the symmetry of yield strength was greatly improved by MDIF process.