Effect of grain size on prismatic slip in Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy

The grain size of Mg–3Al–1Zn magnesium alloy was systematically varied from 33 μm down to 350 nm, while keeping the crystallographic texture nearly constant, via multi-temperature equal-channel angular processing. Nearly the same texture allowed the activation of mostly prismatic slip in tension and thus evaluation of the effect of grain size on prismatic slip. The maximum tensile yield strength of 385 MPa and ultimate tensile strength of 455 MPa were achieved in materials with an average grain size of 350 nm, accompanied with 13% ductility.