The hot deformation behavior of as-cast AZ91 magnesium alloy reinforced by SiC nanoparticles (SiCp/AZ91 nanocomposite) was investigated using hot compression test. Compared with unreinforced AZ91 alloy, peak stress of the SiCp/AZ91 nanocomposite achieved faster and high temperature deformation ability which was enhanced by the addition of SiC nanoparticles. The values of n for the AZ91 alloy and nanocomposite were 6.9 and 4.6, while the values of Q were 207.96 kJ/mol and 184.6 kJ/mol, respectively. The processing map showed the optimum processing conditions for the nanocomposite mainly concentrated at 523–673 K/0.018–0.001 s−1 and the maximum power dissipation efficiency was found to be 36% at a temperature of 673 K and the strain rate of 0.001 s−1. Based on the constitutive equation and processing map, the deformation mechanism for the present nanocomposite should be dominated by the mechanism of dynamic recrystalization.
