Papers by Author: A. Vorhauer

Abstract: A pure OFHC copper is subjected to severe plastic deformation (SPD) by a well defined high pressure torsion process at ambient temperature. The change in microstructure of samples deformed to different strains, up to ε=64, is investigated in-situ, during annealing at 170°C, within a scanning electron microscope. The spatial distribution of nucleation sites changes significantly with increasing strain from nucleation at triple junctions and grain boundaries to a random distribution of sites for von Mises equivalent strains beyond ε=4. The resulting mean size of recrystallized grains is about 6.75 times larger than the mean microstructural size of the corresponding as-deformed state. For strains larger than ε=16 the recrystallized microstructure appears to be independent of preceding strain. A detailed investigation of the nucleation of recrystallized grains following very large strains shows that certain microstructural elements are favoured as nuclei and were particularly taken into account.

Abstract: Copper and nickel single crystals of high purity with a crystallographic orientation, (001) and (111) respectively, were deformed by applying high pressure torsion (HPT) at room temperature. Special interest was devoted to the structural evolution of the material, which was characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray texture analysis as well. In addition back scatter electron investigations were applied to characterize shape and size of the new formed structure. Furthermore the study is focused on the micro structural and micro textural evolution that lead to the increase of missorientation angle with increasing plastic deformation. We observed an increasing fragmentation of the structure with increasing plastic equivalent strain up to a level where the grain size is saturated. The saturation could be traced back to dynamical recovery and recrystallisation during the deformation process that is depending on the purity of the material.

Abstract: Severe plastic deformation (SPD) has been applied to two classes of metallic materials, single phase and dual phase materials. The applied shear strain has been varied between 1 and 1000 and the homologous temperature between 0.08 and 0.4. The deformation experiments are performed by high pressure torsion (HPT). The resulting microstructures were investigated by backscattered electron imaging, orientation image microscopy, and in selected cases by transmission electron microscopy. It will be shown that the behavior of single phase material is relatively uniform. With increasing strain, the size of the structural elements decreases and reaches a saturation between a shear strain of 10 to 100. The temperature and the alloying are the main parameters, which controls the saturation size of the structural elements (grains). The behavior in the dual phase materials is more complex, it varies from simple homogenisation, fragmentation of one phase, to desintegration and supersaturation of the phases.

Abstract: A commercial FeCo ferritic steel with an initial grain size of 10 μm was subjected to Severe Plastic Deformation in a temperature range between 293 K (0.16Tm, Tm: melting temperature in K) and 723 K (0.4Tm) up to strain levels where a saturation of the microstructural refinement is observed. The microstructure of the severely deformed state is analyzed by Back Scattered Electrons micrographs captured in a SEM. The magnetic properties were characterized by means of SQUID-magnetometer providing information about the magnetization behavior of the material in the as processed state. Depending on the deformation temperature mean microstructural sizes in the steady state of 50 nm and 270 nm were observed after SPD at 293 K and 723 K, respectively. These small microstructural sizes influences significantly the magnetic properties of the material: it shifts the behavior from soft-magnetic in the initial coarse grained state towards a hard-magnetic with decreasing size of the crystallites. For sizes of the crystallites smaller than about 100 nm the magnetic properties become again more soft-magnetic.