Understanding the role of recrystallized versus non-recrystallized grains during annealing in Mg alloys

This experiment aims to study static recrystallization in Mg-Zn-Ca alloys using in-situ 3D X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) and dark-field X-ray microscopy (DFXM). Lightweight magnesium (Mg) alloys have enormous potential for reducing fuel consumption of transportation vehicles, but the poor formability of Mg sheet due to its strong basal texture has precluded its widespread use. Recent studies on Mg-Zn-Ca suggest that annealing can result in desirably weakened split-basal textures. Here, we plan to use a multiscale, multimodal approach to understand the role of recrystallized versus non-recrystallized (i.e., grains that existed from the as-deformed condition). Our two-part experiment plan consists of (1) collecting non-recrystallized vs. recrystallized grain evolution statistics using fast acquisition 3DXRD in the rolling, normal, and transverse directions, and then (2) "zooming" in to measure the evolution of non-recrystallized vs. recrystallized grains in high resolution using DFXM.