MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF WE43 Mg ALLOY PROCESSED BY WARM ECAP FOLLOWED BY EXTRUSION

In the present paper, the effects of the subsequent extrusion after multi-pass equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) process on the mechanical properties and microstructure of WE43 magnesium alloy are investigated. First, second and fourth passes ECAP followed by an extrusion process are applied on WE43 magnesium alloy to refine the microstructure and to improve the mechanical properties for biomedical applications. The results showed that among the ECAPed samples, the highest and lowest strength were obtained in the second and the first pass processed samples, respectively. The four passes processed sample showed the highest elongation to failure with moderate strength. The sample processed via first pass ECAP followed by extrusion exhibits an excellent combination of ductility and strength. The highest strength was obtained in the sample processed via the second pass ECAP followed by extrusion while the highest elongation was achieved in the sample processed via fourth pass ECAP followed by extrusion. Moreover, Vickers micro-indentation tests demonstrate that hardness is enhanced by an increase in the number of ECAP passes. Furthermore, a grain refinement process is presented for ECAP processing of WE43 alloy which shows a good agreement with microstructural investigations.