Effect of grain refinement on tensile ductility in ZK60 magnesium alloy under dynamic loading

Magnesium alloys are generally brittle owing to their HCP structure. In this study, improvement of tensile mechanical properties under dynamic loading has been demonstrated for a pure magnesium and a ZK60 magnesium alloy. The solution-treated ZK60 alloy exhibits yielding at a dynamic strain rate of 1.8 x 10(3) s(-1), which was not observed in a pure magnesium. The yield stress of the ZK60 alloy increases at the dynamic strain rate with a similar slope of Hall-Petch relation at a quasi-static strain rate. Enhancement of ductility can be also achieved by refining grain structures for the ZK60 alloy. The high ductility of the fine-grained alloy is due to the absence of macroscopic cracking at mechanical twin boundaries. It is found that the absorption energy per weight in the fine-grained ZK60 is twice higher than that of high strength aluminum alloys.