Numerical Simulation of Microstructure Evolution in AZ31 Magnesium Alloy during Equal Channel Angular Pressing
The microstructure and material properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy are very sensitive to process parameters, which directly determine the service properties. To explore and understand the deformation behavior and the optimization of the deformation process, the microstructure evolution during equal channel angular pressing was predicted by using the DEFORM-3D software package at different temperature. To verify the finite element simulation results, the microstructure across the transverse direction of the billet was measured. The results show that the effects strain and deformation temperatures on the microstructure evolution of AZ31 magnesium during ECAP process are significant, and a good agreement between the predicted and experimental results was obtained, which confirmed that the derived dynamic recrystallization mathematical models can be successfully incorporated into the finite element model to predict the microstructure evolution of ECAP process for AZ31 magnesium.