Processing of Dilute Mg–Zn–Mn–Ca Alloy/Nb Multilayers by Accumulative Roll Bonding

Recent advancements in the severe plastic deformation process called accumulative roll bonding (ARB) can help to address the long-standing need for manufacturing lightweight, high-strength Mg sheet materials. However, the fabrication of Mg alloy-based laminates via ARB remains a challenge due to the intrinsically poor formability of Mg. Herein, it is shown that Mg-based composite laminates with refined layers can be fabricated via several room-temperature ARB cycles with appropriate intermediate annealing and alloy selection. The final laminates made here consist of equal volume fractions of a dilute Mg–Zn–Mn–Ca alloy phase and a pure Nb phase with fine 150 μm layer thicknesses. Deformation texture evolution in both phases within the composite is analyzed via neutron diffraction measurements taken at different stages in the process. The analysis suggests that the annealing step recrystallizes the Mg-alloy phase. It is also shown that for both phases, the stabilized deformation textures within the composite correspond to the classic stable textures of the individual constituents. Polycrystal texture modeling implies that {10–12} <-1011> extension twinning developed in the Mg alloy during rolling.