Mechanical anisotropy of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet investigated by the acoustic emission technique

Abstract

The mechanical anisotropy of hot rolled AZ31 magnesium alloy has been investigated by measurements of the acoustic emission (AE). Specimens of different orientations between the tensile axis and the rolling direction were deformed at room temperature and at an initial strain rate of 10−3 s−1 in order to study the microstructure changes during plastic deformation. It is shown that the mechanical anisotropy is linked with the activity of different slip systems (especially of basal slip) and deformation twinning. The AE parameters are correlated with the stress-strain curves and discussed in terms of possible deformation mechanisms.