Materials Letters 238 (2019) 305–308

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Materials Letters
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mlblue

Effect of Ca addition on the room-temperature formability of AZ31

magnesium alloy
U.M. Chaudry, Y.S. Kim, K. Hamad ⇑
School of Advanced Materials Science & Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, South Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the present work, the high formability of an AZ31 magnesium alloy containing 0.5 wt% calcium (AZ31-
Received 7 September 2018 0.5Ca) was explained. The results showed that the intermetallic particles (Mg,Al)2Ca formed due to the
Accepted 21 November 2018 calcium addition contributed to the weakening of the basal texture during the primary processing. In
Available online 10 December 2018
addition, due to the strengthening effect of these particles on the basal slip, a higher activity of prismatic
slip was observed. Both the weak basal texture and high activity of prismatic slip explained the high
Keywords: formability recorded for this alloy.
Magnesium alloys
Ó 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Calcium
Microstructure
Formability

1. Introduction mance of the Ca-modified AZ31 Mg alloy. AZ31 Mg alloy was

For reducing the oil consumption and avoiding the related envi-
ronmental problems, scientists are always looking for lightweight
structural materials that show high performance during both pro-
cessing and application. Among the various candidates, magne-
sium (Mg) seems to be the most promising to achieve this target,
where it is
33, 60, and 75% lighter than aluminium (Al), titanium
(Ti) and steel, respectively [1]. However, the poor formability of Mg
limits its potentiality in several fields [2]. The poor formability is
mainly related to the high mechanical anisotropy and limited
number independent slip systems of Mg. In this regard, a lot of
works have been carried out to overcome these limitations and
to reach the full potential of Mg [3–5]. Most of the works reported
on the formability and ductility of Mg alloys concluded that the
weakening of the basal texture and/or reducing the critical
resolved shear stresses (CRSS) of the non-basal slip systems (pris-
matic and pyramidal) are the key points to enhance the perfor-
mance of Mg. Several methods like reducing the grain size during
primary processing or alloying with different elements were used
to modify the texture and CRSS to improve the formability of Mg
alloys [6,7].
In this work, we suggest an alloy combination with improved
formability which can be achieved even at high rate. The newly
designed AZ31-0.5Ca alloy demonstrates good performance with
high mechanical properties at the same time. We will also figure
out the mechanism that is responsible for the improved perfor-
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: hamad82@skku.edu (K. Hamad).
selected in the present study due to its good cast-ability and low
cost.
2. Experiments
The sheets used in the present work (AZ31-0.5Ca and AZ31 with
similar grain size) were received from POSCO (South Korea). These
were fabricated using a twin-roll strip casting process. The casted
strips were then subjected to a multi-pass warm rolling process
followed by heat treatment and water quenching until
1 mm
sheets with homogeneous microstructure were obtained. For
microstructure and texture evolution, samples cut from TD–RD
plane of the sheets were mechanically grinded and polished using
a cross section polisher (Hitachi IM4000). The polished samples
were then examined using electron back-scattered diffraction
(EBSD) in a scanning electron microscope with a field-emission
gun (Hitachi S-4300 FESEM). Forming limit Diagram (FLD) test
was carried out by cylindrical dome method on 50 ton hydraulic
servo press at room temperature with the punch speed of
100mm/min. The specimens (AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca) were pre-
pared according to ISO 12004 standard. Room-temperature tensile
tests were carried out on dog-bone specimens cut from the sheets
of the two alloys (AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca) along three different
directions; RD, 45° from RD and TD. Mechanical anisotropy of the
alloys was investigated by analyzing the deformation behavior of
the samples at 10% tensile strain. Accordingly, the Lankford values
(r-value), average r-value (ravg) and planar anisotropy (Dr) were
determined using the following equations:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2018.12.013
0167-577X/Ó 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
306 U.M. Chaudry et al. / Materials Letters 238 (2019) 305–308

ew
r¼
et
1 erally, along the three directions, AZ31-0.5Ca alloy is more ductile
r av e ¼ jr RD þ r TD þ 2r 45 j
4 and weaker than the AZ31. For both alloys, AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca,
1
Dr ¼ jrRD þ r TD  2r45 j
2 which the TE was the highest along the RD followed by 45° and
where ew and et are the true width and thickness strains at 10%
tensile deformation, respectively, and rRD, r45, and rTD are r-values
along the three different directions. Erichsen cupping tests were
conducted on 90  90 mm sheets at room temperature at a punch
speed 0.33 mm/s.
3. Results and discussion
Fig. 1a shows the cups left after the room-temperature Erichsen
tests carried out on the AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca sheets at a punch
speed of 0.33 mm/s. It is clearly seen that the addition of 0.5 wt%
Ca significantly enhanced the formability of the AZ31 alloy, where
Erichsen values of
2.2 and 6 mm were recorded for the AZ31 and
AZ31-0.5Ca sheets tested at punch speed of 0.33 mm/s, respec-
tively. More importantly, the value recorded for this alloy
(AZ31-0.5Ca) was reached at a high punch speed (0.33 mm/s). To
figure out the high formability recorded for AZ31-0.5Ca, mechani-
cal anisotropy of the two alloys was investigated. Fig. 1b show
room-temperature tensile curves of the AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca
alloys tested along three different directions, RD, 45° from RD,
and TD. The tensile data including: yield strength (YS), ultimate
ð1Þ
tensile strength (UTS), uniform elongation (UE), total elongation
(TE), and strain hardening exponent (n) are listed in Table 1. Gen-
ð2Þ
the YS was the highest along RD followed by TD and 45°, respec-
ð3Þ tively. In addition, the two alloys show identical behaviors in
TD. In order to clarify the effect of the composition and related
texture on the mechanical anisotropy, Lankford values (r-value),
average r-value (ravg) and planar anisotropy (Dr) of the alloys were
determined and compared (Table 1). Although the two alloys
nearly showed the same trend along the various directions yet they
have distinct mechanical anisotropy and strain hardening capabil-
ities. With r-values and Dr close to 1 and 0, respectively, the
AZ31-0.5Ca alloy exhibits a lower plastic anisotropy as compared
to AZ31, as shown in Table 1. In addition, the strain hardening
exponents of this alloy (AZ31-0.5Ca) along the three different
directions are higher than those of the AZ31 alloy. The high strain
hardening capability of the AZ31-0.5Ca alloy reduces the mechan-
ical instabilities during plastic deformation, and hence, enhances
the uniform ductility. Fig. 1c shows the specimen left after various
formability tests carried out on both of the alloys (AZ31 and
AZ31-0.5Ca). For FLD, engineering major and minor strains mea-
sured in the location closest to the fracture for each specimen were
recorded and curve fitted into the strain points to give formability
limit curve (FLC). It can be seen from Fig. 1d, AZ31-0.5Ca showed
higher curve as compared to AZ31 which in turn can be attributed

Fig. 1. (a) Side views taken from the AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca alloy sheets after Erichsen test, (b) tensile tests of the alloys (c) Samples after FLD test (d) Formability limit curve
(FLC) of the alloys.
 U.M. Chaudry et al. / Materials Letters 238 (2019) 305–308 307

Table 1
Room-temperature tensile properties and mechanical anisotropy parameters of AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca alloys.

Alloy Tensile direction YS (MPa) UTS (MPa) UE (%) TE (%) n r ravg Dr

AZ31 RD 176 275 24 32 0.2 2.34 2.3 0.72
45° 161 272 22 29 0.17 2.7
TD 171 283 23 27 0.21 1.62
AZ31-0.5Ca RD 147 248 31 38 0.28 0.71 0.6 0.16
45° 125 237 30 35 0.27 0.52
TD 139 251 30 32 0.26 0.69

to better formability. It can be seen that the FLC in the negative
part are higher than the positive part. In the left part, specimen
is under pull-compressive state while it is under pull-pull stress
in the right part. Materials are more likely to rupture in pull-pull
stress so the curve on the right side is lower than the left.
Fig. 2 shows the EBSD data, including the normal direction (ND)
inverse pole figure (IPF) maps and pole figures (PFs) of AZ31 and
AZ31-0.5Ca alloys. It is clearly evident that both alloys have similar
microstructural features including grain size and morphology
(Fig. 2a and b). On the other hand, two main variations can be
noted; the former is the higher number of randomly-oriented
grains in the AZ31-0.5Ca alloy (Fig. 2c and d) and the latter is the
presence of fine particles in the AZ31-0.5Ca alloy, as shown by
arrows in Fig. 2b. In AZ31-0.5Ca alloy, randomly-oriented grains,
those are with c-axis tilted away from ND of the sample, indicate
to the weak basal texture evolved in this alloy after a primary pro-
cessing (warm rolling followed by heat treatment). On the other
hand, the initial texture of the AZ31 alloy investigated in the pre-
sent work is characterized by more grains with basal orientations.
Coming back to the above-mentioned variations, the fine particles
observed in the IQ map of the AZ31-0.5Ca alloy are analyzed fur-
ther using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive
spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The EDS measurements of these particles
shown in Fig. 2e revealed that they are mainly composed of
Mg
40, Al
40 and Ca
18 wt%. The present SEM/EDS data is
consistent with the predication work carried out by Grobner and
Schmid-Fetzer [8], indicating that the addition of Ca to AZ31 alloy
can lead to the formation of (Mg,Al)2Ca intermetallic compound.
The presence of such particles can enhance the activity of non-
basal slip systems through changing the relative CRSS of various
slip systems (basal and non-basal slips). To characterize the type
of non-basal slip which might be activated, the distribution of in-
grain misorientation axes (IGMA) were determined for the
deformed alloys [9]. IGMA analyses are used to identify the slip
modes throughout a misorientation range between 2.5° and 5°,
where in this range, the in-grain misorientations are mainly caused
by the activation of slip systems [10]. For simplicity, an activation
of single slip in a crystal was considered to explain the relation
between activated slip system and the IGMA. In general, the pres-
ence of dislocation bends the crystal, leading to a slight in-grain
misorientation (2.5–5°) [10]. The in-grain misorientation due to a
single slip can be described by the following equation:
rðsÞ ¼ nðsÞ  dðsÞ ð4Þ
where s is the slip system in which the dislocation is generated, r is
the Taylor axis around which the crystal is bent, n is the axis of the
slip plane and d is the slip direction. According to this equation, the
characteristics of the crystal bending due to the single slip are
mainly associated with the type of the slip. This can be shown by
Fig. 3a, where two types of pure edge dislocations are considered;
hai basal dislocation and hai prismatic dislocation. Based on
Fig. 3a, misorientation axes close to the h1 0 1 0i indicate a high
activity of hai basal slip, whereas hai prismatic slip is indicated by
misorientation axes close to h0 0 0 1i. Fig. 3b and c show IGMA anal-
yses of 6 different grains taken from the tensile-deformed AZ31 and
AZ31-0.5Ca samples, respectively. The results clearly show that

Fig. 2. (a and b) IPF maps of AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca alloys, respectively, (c and d) 0 0 0 1 pole figures of AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca alloys, respectively, (e) EDS of the particles
indicated by the arrows in (b).
308 U.M. Chaudry et al. / Materials Letters 238 (2019) 305–308

Fig. 3. (a) Schematics showing the main concept of the relation between IGMA and the activated slip system, (b and c) IGMA of the of AZ31 and AZ31-0.5Ca alloys subjected
to 10% tensile deformation, respectively. A and B in (a) are the two sides of single crystal bent due to the activation of slip systems (basal and prismatic). r is the Taylor axis
around which the crystal is bent [11].

after the tensile deformation, the distribution of IGMA of the grains
selected from the AZ31 alloy is concentrated between h1 0 1 0i and
h2 1 1 0i, indicating that the basal slip is the dominated deformation
mode in this alloy. On the other hand, the distribution of IGMA of
the grains selected from AZ31-0.5Ca alloy are distributed around
h0 0 0 1i, suggesting that the prismatic slip is absolutely activated
leading to high formability in this alloy [9,10].
4. Conclusions
In summary, the present work showed that the modification of
the well-known Mg alloy, AZ31, by 0.5 wt% Ca can lead to a highly
formable Mg based material capable of withstanding high punch
speed at room temperature. The IGMA analysis revealed that the
AZ31-0.5Ca alloy exhibited a higher activity of non-basal slip (pris-
matic slip) during the deformation as compared to the Ca-free alloy
(AZ31). This was attributed to the formation of the (Mg,Al)2Ca
particles which can contribute to the activity of non-basal slip
systems through changing the relative CRSS of various slip systems
(basal and non-basal slips).
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by National Research Foundation
(NRF) of South Korea (2017R1C1B5017204).
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