Enhanced ductility of Mg–1Zn–0.2Zr alloy with dilute Ca addition achieved by activation of non-basal slip and twinning

Abstract Wrought Mg–Zn–Zr alloys with a strong basal texture usually exhibit highly anisotropic plastic behavior, resulting in premature fracture during deformation at room temperature. In the present study, we prepared a Mg–1Zn–0.2Zr (ZK10) alloy sheet by multi-pass hot rolling and annealing, tailoring the basal texture and reducing the plastic anisotropy with the addition of dilute Ca. Microstructural characterizations of the tensile-deformed alloys show that pyramidal slip and 10 1 ¯ 2 twinning are more easily formed in the Ca-containing alloy compared with those in the ZK10 alloy. The weakened basal texture involving Ca addition leads to promoted activation of 10 1 ¯ 2 twinning, without significant impact on the Schmid factor distribution of pyramidal slip. Simulation results of the visco-plasticity self-consistent model further indicate that Ca reduces the ratio of critical resolved shear stress for pyramidal slip and 10 1 ¯ 2 twinning versus basal slip, leading to a significant improvement in ductility. This work may provide a new strategy to develop wrought Mg alloys with enhanced ductility.