Non-basal slip induced rare earth texture evolution in Mg-14Gd-0.5Zr (wt%) alloy during the traditional hot rolling

In this work, extruded plates made of Mg-13.9Gd-0.45Zr (wt%) alloy, without any significant texture, were rolled at 475 °C along the extrusion direction (ED) and the extrusion transverse direction (ETD) to investigate the evolution of texture during the traditional hot rolling process. The microstructure and texture evolution during the rolling process were characterized and analyzed by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The results reveal that a kind of rare earth (RE) texture that split from the normal direction (ND) towards the rolling transverse direction (RTD) can be formed by the prismatic slip at low strain. However, with the strain increasing, the RE texture gradually transforms into a basal texture since the extensive activation of basal <a> dislocations and pyramidal <c+a> dislocations, especially pyramidal <c+a> dislocations. This transformation solely depends on the rolling reduction, which underscores the significance of strain as a pivotal factor in the texture modification.