Twinning Behavior, Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Property of Random-Orientated ZK60 Mg Alloy Compressed at Room Temperature

In this study, the uniaxial compression of random orientation ZK60 Mg alloy to different strains was performed at room temperature. The microstructure evolution was characterized mainly using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), and the mechanical property was evaluated by the Vickers hardness test. During compression, extension twins nucleated, grew, and engulfed the grain. Twins form a texture with the c-axis parallel to the compression direction. With the massive nucleation and expansion of extension twins during compression, the twin boundary (TB) brought the grain refinement, and the twin boundary-dislocation interaction significantly increased the strain hardening rate of ZK60 Mg alloy, both leading to its significantly increasement of the hardness.