Application of texture simulation to understanding mechanical behavior of Mg and solid solution alloys containing Li or Y

The viscoplastic self-consistent model was used to interpret differences in the mechanical behavior of hexagonal close packed magnesium alloys. There are only subtle differences in the compression textures of magnesium and its solid solution alloys containing lithium or yttrium. However, the plane strain compression textures of the alloys showed an increasing tendency for the basal poles to rotate away from the "normal direction" towards the "rolling direction". Texture simulations enabled these distinctions to be attributed to the increased activity of the non-basal (c + a) slip mode. The alloys had improved compressive ductilities compared to pure magnesium, and the increased c + a slip mode activity provides a satisfying explanation for this improvement, since it can accommodate c-axis compression within individual grains. Accounting for individual deformation mode hardening enabled the flow curves to be simulated and the anisotropic plastic response of textured wrought alloys to be mechanistically understood and predicted. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.