Acta Materialia 51 (2003) 3293–3307 www.actamat-journals.com Texture development and its effect on mechanical properties of an AZ61 Mg alloy fabricated by equal channel angular pressing W.J. Kim a,* , S.I. Hong b , Y.S. Kim c , S.H. Min d , H.T. Jeong d , J.D. Lee e a Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Hong-Ik University, 72-1, Sangsu-dong, Mapo-ku, Seoul 121-791, South Korea b Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Chungnam National University, Taedok Science Town, Taejeon 305-764, South Korea c School of Metallurgical & Materials Science Engineering, Kookmin University, 861-1 Chongnung-dong, Songbuk-gu, Seoul 136-702 South Korea d Department of Metallurgy, Kangnung National University, Kangwon-do, Kangnung 210-702, South Korea e Expresslab Co. Ltd., 407, 90 Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-890, South Korea Received 23 November 2002; accepted 27 February 2003 Abstract Microstructure and texture development of an AZ61 Mg alloy during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was investigated and correlated with the mechanical properties. The microstructure was effectively refined by ECAP, and the original fiber texture of the extruded AZ61 alloy was disintegrated and a new texture was gradually developed by repetitive ECAP pressing. After 8 ECAP passes following route B c , the yield stress is lower than for the as-extruded AZ61 alloy, indicating that the texture softening is dominant over the strengthening due to grain refinement. When route A was used, on the other hand, the yield stress slightly increased after 8 passes. This result is primarily due to a difference in texture. The dominant textures after 8 passes were (101 ¯ 1)[01 ¯ 11] +(101 ¯ 2)[1 ¯ 21 ¯ 0] and (101 ¯ 2)[1 ¯ 21 ¯ 0] when processed by route B c and route A, respectively. Tensile ductility increased after ECAP and the effect of ECAP on ductility is more remarkable when the initial grain size is large.  2003 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Equal channel angular pressing; Magnesium alloy; Texture; Strength; Ductility 1. Introduction Plastic flow causes a reorientation of the lattice of individual grains of a polycrystalline material * Corresponding author. Tel.: +82-23-201468; fax: +82-23- 256116. E-mail address: kimwj@wow.hongik.ac.kr (W.J. Kim). 1359-6454/03/$30.00  2003 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S1359-6454(03)00161-7 and tends to develop a preferred orientation. The principles governing texture development during the conventional forming processes such as rolling and drawing are well understood and it is possible to predict the textures from first principles [1]. However, the information on the texture develop- ment during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), a technique for producing ultra-fine- grain-sized bulk materials by introducing