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An extruded ZK60 magnesium alloy was processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) at room temperature for up to 5 turns under a constant compressive pressure of 2.0 GPa with a rotation speed of 1 rpm. This processing produced an average grain size of ~700 nm. The grain size distributions and textures were examined by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and this revealed some multi-modality in the microstructure at different stages of straining with fractions of both coarse grains and ultrafine grains. EBSD analysis at the mid-radius positions of unprocessed and HPT-processed materials revealed a gradual evolution from a prismatic {101 ത 0} fiber to an ultimate basal {0001} fiber texture with the c-axis parallel to the normal direction.The majority of grain boundaries had misorientations larger than 15 o throughout the processing.The strain hardening tended towards a reasonable hardness homogeneity with a hardenability exponent, η, of 0.07 up to strains of ~20 and with a subsequent hardness saturation at Hv ≈ 125.

Severe plastic deformation routes such as high-pressure torsion (HPT) are capable of producing ultrafine grain sizes in various alloys, specifically in magnesium alloys which exhibit poor ductility due to their hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structure. HPT was performed on ZK60 magnesium alloy samples at room temperature under a pressure of 2.0 GPa up to 5 turns. The Vickers microhardness values were obtained from the centre to the edge of the disc samples and they show a slight hardness gradient with values which are lower at the centre of the samples and higher towards the edge. By increasing the numbers of turns in HPT, the hardness values increase to a saturation level and the gradient is removed. Tensile tests were performed at high temperatures and the results reveal a significant increase in elongation to failure as the numbers of turns in HPT increases. It is shown that microstructural analysis is in agreement with the results obtained from mechanical testing.

High-pressure torsion (HPT) was used to evaluate the effect of straining on the electrochemical properties of a ZK60 magnesium alloy. The samples were processed using HPT up to 20 turns and the electrochemical responses were examined through polarization, EIS, Mott-Schottky and hydrogen evolution tests. Electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) studies showed more homogeneity with finer average grain sizes accompanied by the evolution of a nobler texture when increasing the numbers of HPT turns. Ultimately, this led to improved corrosion behavior for the HPT-processed disks. Post corrosion observations revealed improved protective layers after higher turns of HPT.

An extruded ZK60 magnesium alloy was used to investigate microstructure, hardness and tensile properties after processing by 5 turns of high-pressure torsion (HPT) at room temperature. EBSD results confirmed the successful production of an ultrafine-grained structure with a mean grain size of ~700 nm with reasonable homogeneity and a majority of grains oriented parallel to the shear direction. This material also reached a homogeneous microhardness across the disk with an average hardness value saturated at Hv ≈124 from the as-received hardness value of Hv ≈74. The obtained high value is due to a high density of dislocations, the very small grain size and texture strengthening. The microhardness retained homogeneity after annealing samples processed by HPT for 40 hours at 448 K. However, the hardness value dropped to Hv ≈85 while the mean grain size increased to ~2.1 µm. These changes may be a result of restoration processes and consequent texture softening. Specimens processed by 5 turns of HPT exhibit excellent superplastic properties with a maximum elongation of 940% at 523 K and an optimum strain rate of 1.0×10-4 s-1. Significant superplasticity was observed at 448 K due to the stability of the bimodal structure at lower temperatures. This can assist the microstructure to accommodate grain boundary sliding and intragranular slip simultaneously and postpone any necking.

A ZK60 magnesium alloy with an initial grain size of %10 mm is processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) through 5 revolutions under a constant compressive pressure of 2.0 GPa with a rotation speed of 1 rpm. An average grain size of %700 nm is achieved after HPT with a high fraction of highangle grain boundaries. Tensile experiments at room temperature show poor ductility. However, a combination of reasonable ductility and good strength is achieved with post-HPT annealing by subjecting samples to high temperatures in the range of 473-548 K for 10 or 20 min. The grain size and texture changes are also examined by electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) and the results compared to long-term annealing for 2500 min at 450 K. The results of this study suggest that a post-HPT annealing for a short period of time may be effective in achieving a reasonable combination of strength and ductility.

An Al-7075 aluminum alloy and a ZK60 magnesium alloy were processed by a combination of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) for 4 passes and high-pressure torsion (HPT) through total numbers of up to 20 turns. Processing by ECAP and HPT were performed at 473 K and room temperature, respectively. Mechanical testing showed an increase in the hardness value of the Al-7075 alloy after a combination of ECAP and HPT whereas in the ZK60 alloy the hardness was reduced. Microstructural images of the Al-7075 alloy revealed very significant grain refinement after a combination of ECAP + HPT compared to the individual processing techniques. By contrast, and consistent with the hardness measurements, the average grain size of the ZK60 alloy was larger after processing by the two-step SPD technique. These results are examined and an explanation is presented based on the available microstructural evidence.

High pressure torsion provides an opportunity to process materials with low formability such as magnesium at room temperature. The present work shows the microstructure evolution in commercially pure magnesium processed using a pressure of 6.0 GPa up to 10 turns of rotation. The microstructure evolution is evaluated using electron microscopy and the hardness is determined using dynamic hardness testing. The results show that the grain refinement mechanism in this material differs from materials with b.c.c. and f.c.c. structures. The mechanism of grain refinement observed at high temperatures also applies at room temperature. The hardness distribution is heterogeneous along the longitudinal section of the discs and is not affected by the amount of deformation imposed to the material.