Effect of Surface Modification on Cumulative Tensile Ductility of AZ31 Magnesium Sheet

Wire brushing and annealing (WBA) process was developed, optimized and utilized to modify the surface layer microstructure of AZ31 automotive magnesium sheet material. The process was carried out using softer brass wire brushes to mitigate the effect of wire brushing on surface quality and damage. The influence of modified surface grain structure and crystallographic texture was studied by continuous uniaxial tension test as well as by a newly proposed multi-step uniaxial stretching and annealing (MUSA) process to assess cumulative uniaxial tensile ductility of AZ31 sheet. A rotational speed of 2800 revolutions per minute for the wire brush with a near-zero depth of cut followed by annealing at 473 K (200 °C) for 60 minutes resulted in acceptable surface quality with a refined grain layer of depth 30 μm, and a modified crystallographic texture on the surface. Material flow behavior, grain microstructure, and texture evolution of WBA-processed material during subsequent MUSA process were analyzed to assess the role of wire brushing in enhancing the MUSA response of AZ31 sheet. Original fully annealed AZ31 sheet (in the non-WBA condition) was also subjected to identical MUSA process for comparison purposes. The results showed improvement in terminal uniaxial tensile ductility of WBA-MUSA-processed material compared to Standard-MUSA material. The ductility improvement is attributed to non-basal texture development and re-distribution of the texture, as well as to grain refinement within the highly deformed surface layer from the combination of WBA and MUSA processes.