Superplasticity of a nano-grained Mg–Gd–Y–Zr alloy processed by high-pressure torsion

While most of the reports on Mg-Gd-Y-Zr alloys report superplasticity after extrusion or friction stir processing, it is important to investigate superplasticity in these alloys after other severe plastic deformation processes having greater grain refinement capability. Accordingly, superplasticity was studied in an Mg–9Gd–4Y–0.4Zr (GW94) alloy after different high-pressure torsion (HPT) conditions. The HPT was performed at room temperature under an applied pressure of 6.0 GPa for up to 16 turns. TEM microstructural characterization revealed that the grain size was reduced from an initial value of ~8.6 m in the extruded condition to ~95 ± 10 and ~85 ± 10 nm after 8 and 16 turns, respectively. A shear punch testing method was used for evaluation of superplasticity at 573, 623, 673 and 723 K. Maximum strain rate sensitivities of ~0.51 ± 0.05 and ~0.48 ± 0.05 were obtained at 623 K for the material processed through 16 and 8 turns, respectively. This strain rate sensitivity and an activation energy of ~100 ± 5 kJ mol suggests the occurrence of grain boundary sliding in the superplastic region.