Plane-strain fracture toughness on thin AZ31 wrought magnesium alloy sheets

There are few reports about plane-strain fracture toughness on wrought magnesium alloys. Also, there are a little data, for example plane-strain fracture toughness, that evaluates such as reliability and safety in magnesium alloys. Therefore, in this study, plane-strain fracture toughness, K-IC, on thin AZ31 wrought magnesium alloy sheets was analyzed. As a result, appropriate plane-strain fracture toughness was not obtained by plane-strain fracture toughness test. It was because specimens used in this study were too thin to satisfy small scale yielding condition. But, as a result of stretched zone analysis, appropriate plane-strain fracture toughness, K-IC, was obtained and the values of K-IC were 16.5-18.4 MPam(1/2). According to the result of this study, it is concluded that stretched zone analysis was one of effective ways to evaluate fracture toughness of AZ31 wrought magnesium alloy appropriately. And the values of fracture toughness on AZ31 wrought magnesium alloys were equal or higher than that of cast magnesium alloy.