Effect of the Strain Rate on the Damping and Mechanical Properties of a ZK60 Magnesium Alloy

High strain rate rolling (HRSS) of a ZK60 magnesium alloy at 300 °C with a strain rate from 5 s(−1) to 25 s(−1) was used to research the effect of the rate on the mechanical properties and damping capacity of the ZK60 alloy. The results show that as the strain rate increases, the tensile strength decreases from 355 MPa at 25 s(−1) to 310 MPa at 5 s(−1). Two damping peaks (P1 and P2) are detected in the high strain rate rolled ZK60 alloys at different strain rates. The P1 peak appears at low temperatures and is caused by grain boundaries sliding. The P2 peak appears at high temperatures and is caused by recrystallization. As the strain rate increases from 5 to 20 s(−1), the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) volume percent rises and the dislocation density decreases, both of which cause the P1 peak to become more and more obvious, and activation energy rises. At the same time, the dislocation density decreases and leads to a decrease in the storage energy, which reduces the recrystallization driving force and shifts the P2 peak to high temperatures. When the strain rate reaches 20 and 25 s(−1), DRX occurs fully in the sheet, so the activation energy of the P1 peak and the temperature where the P2 peak appears are basically equal.