Influence of temperature and number of passes during twist channel angular pressing (TCAP) on the microstructural, mechanical, and corrosion properties of Mg–4Li–Ca

In this study, the possibilities of improving the mechanical and corrosion properties of Mg–4Li–1Ca processed using twist channel angular pressing (TCAP) were investigated. There was a special focus on the optimization of the TCAP parameters through analyzing how the temperature of TCAP influences the microstructural, mechanical, and corrosion properties of the alloy, and how an increasing number of TCAP passes affects these properties. It was shown that among specimens extruded with one pass, the highest mechanical properties were achieved at 180 °C. Microstructural changes were noted at higher temperatures and caused a decline in the mechanical properties. The influence of an increasing number of passes through the TCAP channel was rather minor and did not lead to significant microstructural strengthening. In contrast, the best corrosion performance was observed after four passes at 180 °C and after a single pass at 300 °C. The results of this study show that TCAP is an efficient method for the grain refinement of hcp-structured metals, lowering the costs of the plastic deformation of Mg-based alloys.