An ICME Approach to the Investigation of the Relationship between Processing Parameters and Microstructure Development in an Extruded ZE20 Magnesium Alloy

Forsmark, J., Li, M., Mishra, R., Plumeri, J., Michie, R., Chamanfar, A., Misiolek, W., McClelland, Z., Oppedal, A. L., Horstemeyer, M., Horstemeyer, S., Ma, X., Allison, J., Sutton, S., Luo, A., Nyberg, E., & Abdulrahman, N. (2016). An ICME Approach to the Investigation of the Relationship between Processing Parameters and Microstructure Development in an Extruded ZE20 Magnesium Alloy. 2016 TMS Annual Meeting. Nashville, TN: TMS.

The USAMP Mg Front End Program has recently been investigating a novel magnesium extrusion alloy, ZE20, for its potential to have improved extrusion and mechanical properties over conventional extruded Mg alloys such as AM30. ZE20 has shown improvement in ductility and less directional anisotropy due to a more random texture than is generally exhibited in the conventional structural alloys. In this work, four universities, a national lab, and several commercial manufacturers have collaborated to determine the influence of processing parameters on the texture and microstructure of two small I-beam extrusions of different geometries. Models have been created, and validated experimentally, to describe both the localized properties during the extrusion process and the subsequent microstructure observed. This program demonstrates the workflow required to utilize ICME principles in the development of predictive tools while leveraging the resources of multiple institutions.