Common trends in texture evolution of ultra-fine-grained hcp materials during equal channel angular extrusion

The present work compares the texture evolution of four different hexagonal close packed (hcp) materials (pure Zr, pure Be, AZ31 magnesium alloy and Ti–6Al–4V) subjected to one pass equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE). The resulting textures demonstrated a common feature where the basal poles were aligned along the most highly elongated direction of the sheared grains. The striking similarity between their texture evolutions irrespective of the initial material properties (c/a ratio, grain size, texture) and processing conditions is attributed to the activity of a common plasticity mechanism, i.e. basal slip, as a result of the state and level of strain applied during ECAE.