Microstructural Evolution of Hot-Rolled AZ31 Mg Plate Induced by Electropulsing Treatment

Mg alloysMagnesium alloys (Mg alloys) need to be thermomechanically treated at elevated temperatures due to the limited formabilityFormability at room temperature. Electropulsing treatment (EPT) is a new method of heat treatmentHeat treatments that utilizes Joule heating directly through electric current to a metal specimen. The process has various advantages, such as rapid heating and energy efficiency, in comparison to the conventional heating method. The authors’ recent study suggested the anisotropic nature of EPT, namely electropulsingElectropulsing anisotropyAnisotropy. Specifically, AZ31 Mg alloy exhibits distinct kinetics of microstructural evolution depending on the direction of electropulsing. As the following study, this present work further investigates the electropulsingElectropulsing anisotropy excluding the effect of grain boundaries. EPT was applied in three directions using AZ31 Mg plate composed of equiaxed grains, which allow for a detailed study of the sole effect of textureTexture on the anisotropyAnisotropy.