The effect of back pressure on mechanical properties of an Mg-3 wt.% Al-1 wt.% Zn alloy with single pass equal channel angular pressing

The strength and ductility in an Mg-3 wt.% Al-1 wt.% Zn alloy were both increased after a single pass of equal channel angular pressing with back pressure (BP-ECAP). The strong soft texture in the case of ECAP without backpressure is changed to a much weak texture with some transformed to hard orientation, and together with the stronger grain refinement strengthening effect, contributes to the higher strength and ductility in samples ECAP processed with backpressure. Dynamic recrystallization and the activation of new deformation modes other than slip on the base plane during ECAP with backpressure lead to more effective grain refining and less soft texture development.