Role of unusual double-peak texture in significantly enhancing cold rolling formability of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet

Multi-pass cold rolling experiments were performed on AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet with unusual double-peak texture, where basal poles tilt about ±40° away from normal direction to rolling direction. This adopted sheet was fabricated by a novel technology of equal channel angular rolling and continuous bending process with subsequent annealing. Experimental results confirm that such an unusual double-peak texture contributes to a huge improvement of accumulated reduction up to 39.2%, which is over twice as much as that (18.3%) in sheet with strong basal texture. Optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction measurements demonstrate that the evolution of microstructure and texture in sheet with unusual double-peak texture is quite different from that in sheet with strong basal texture. Schmid factor (SF) analysis confirms that sheet with unusual double-peak texture possesses obviously large SF values for basal 〈a〉 slip {1012} and extension twin (ET) and remarkably small SF values for prismatic 〈a〉 slip and pyramidal 〈c+a〉 slip during cold rolling process. Therefore, basal 〈a〉 {1012} slip and {1012} ET will be activated more frequently in sheet with unusual double-peak texture to sustain plastic strain, leading to significant enhancement in cold rolling formability.