2.4.2. Tensile Tests

Strength and ductility were determined by tensile testing. Dogbone-shaped specimens with a cross-sectional area of 0.6 <sup>×</sup> 0.6 mm2 and a parallel gauge length of 3.5 mm in average (Figure 2) were cut via spark erosion from the HPT-processed and non-processed discs. The gauge length of the tensile samples was off-centered at a radius of the HPT-disc of approximately 3 mm.

**Figure 2.** (**a**) Tensile test samples punched from Mg alloys in question, (**b**) dimensions of a punched sample.

A micro-tensile machine produced by MESSPHYSIK/ZWICK-RÖLL (Fürstenfeld, Austria) was used with load capacities in the range of 1–1000 N—suitable for determination of tensile properties and low cycle fatigue tests of small-scaled samples. Loads up to 120 N with a ramp speed of 0.2 mm/min giving the strain rate of approximately 1 <sup>×</sup> <sup>10</sup>−<sup>3</sup> <sup>s</sup>−<sup>1</sup> were used. To obtain average values for the tensile test results, at least 3 samples were tested for each condition.
