FE simulation and experimental investigation of ZK60 magnesium alloy with different radial diameters processed by equal channel angular pressing

The deformation characteristics of ZK60 magnesium alloy with different radial diameters (ϕ10 mm and ϕ30 mm) processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) are studied via FE simulation and experimental method in this paper. After 2-passes ECAP, the equiaxed fine grains with a size of ∼0.9 μm are obtained for both different radial diameter specimens. The Vickers hardness of the ECAPed specimens has a minor increase after two consecutive pressing passes and the hardness value has a little change when the radial diameter changes. The FE simulation carried out by DEFORM-3D shows a nonuniform strain distribution evolving in the process of ECAP, which can explain the inhomogeneity of grain distribution. The law of the simulated strain distribution is in good agreement with that of the grain distribution. According to the analysis of the experiment and simulation results, the effect of the radial diameter on the microstructure evolution for the ECAP process is revealed.