Materials Science Forum Vols. 638-642

Abstract: The 7075 Al alloy was processed by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) at 300, 350 and 400 °C. The microstructure and texture were characterized and the hardness was measured. Cell/(sub)grain sizes less than 500 nm and typical β-fibre rolling texture were observed in the three ARBed samples. At 400 °C, the presence of elements in solid solution leads to a poorly misoriented microstructure and to a homogeneous β-fibre texture. At 300 and 350 °C highly misoriented microstructure and heterogeneous β-fibre rolling texture are observed, especially at 350 °C, wherein the degree of dynamic recovery is higher. Hardness of the ARBed samples is affected by the amount of atoms in solid solution at the different processing temperatures.

Abstract: Recent advances in the severe plastic deformation technique have shown that effective refinement of the microstructure can be achieved in pure metals as well as in alloys. Among the various methods of severe plastic deformation, equal channel angular pressing has been the subject of numerous research works. Since the grain refining effect of this technique appears to reach a peak at a level of approximately 200 nm further microstructural changes are sought—deformation at a cryogenic temperature being one of the candidate routes. In the present study, we opted to combine equal channel angular pressing and low temperature plastic deformation to refine the microstructure of commercially pure V. The starting microstructure consisted of equiaxed grains with an average size of 100 micrometers. This microstructure was refined to a 200 nm thick lamellar microstructure by 8 passes of equal channel angular pressing at 350°C. The lamellar thickness was further reduced to 140 nm upon subsequent cryogenic rolling, which resulted in room temperature yield strength of 768 MPa. In the specimens, recrystallization annealed at 850°C, the grain size reached 1000 nm or larger, and the yield strength obeyed the Hall-Petch relationship with that grain size. The tensile elongation value, which was low and insensitive to the grain size in the as-deformed state, increased significantly up to 43% with the recrystallization annealing.

Abstract: The development of the new technology for manufacturing of multi layer aluminium based materials for heat radiators is the subject of this work. Modern aluminium alloys can be specially processed in a controlled manner to obtain nano(mikro) structures. These ultra fine grained structures play a significant role because they provide a possibility to obtain final product that is characterized by elevated strength properties and, at the same time, good anticorrosion and soldering properties. A detailed understanding of these ultra fined structures using a combination of numerical modelling and experimental analysis is presented in this paper. Particular attention is put on implementation of the microstructure evolution model into the finite element software to simulate Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) process. Examples of the obtained results are presented and discussed.

Abstract: High purity aluminum (Al) and copper (Cu) single crystals of different crystallographic orientations were processed for one pass by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). The deformed structures were examined using orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This paper examines the experimental results in terms of the values of the shear factors based on simple shear theory.

Abstract: Effect of intense plastic straining on rollability and service properties of an Al-6%Mg-0.3%Sc alloy was examined. Ultrafine-grained structure (UFG) was produced by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) to a strain of 8 at a temperature of 325oC. The formation of UFG structure resulted in increase in the yield stress from 223 MPa to 285 MPa and ultimate stress from 350 MPa to 389 MPa in comparison with initial hot extruded condition. Total elongation slightly decreased from 33% to 29%. After ECAP, the material was subjected to cold and isothermal warm rolling. The formation of UFG structure resulted in enhanced rollability of the present alloy at room temperature. Cold rolling with high reduction provides the development of heavily deformed microstructure with high dislocation density, while the isothermal warm rolling does not remarkably affect the microstructure produced by ECAP. The mechanical properties after ECAP and ECAP with subsequent isothermal rolling were roughly similar. In contrast, cold rolling to the same strain resulted in significant increase of yield stress (495 MPa) and ultimate stress (536 MPa). Total elongation attained was 13%.

Abstract: Annealing-induced hardening and deformation-induced softening behavior has recently been found in nanostructured aluminum (fcc) produced by severe plastic deformation. It has also been demonstrated that annealing led to a decrease in ductility while deformation led to an increase in ductility. These mechanical responses are totally opposite to those in conventional coarse-grained samples. The present study explores the effect of post-process annealing or deformation on mechanical properties of nanostructured interstitial free (IF) steel (bcc). Accumulative roll-bonding was used to produce the nanostructured IF steel. The deformation structure was characterized by a lamellar boundary structure with a mean spacing of about 200 nm, consisting of high-angle boundaries, low-angle dislocation boundaries and dislocations in the volume between the boundaries. When the deformed sample was annealed at 400oC for 0.5 h, the yield stress and ultimate tensile strength increased and the elongation to failure decreased markedly. In contrast, when the annealed treatment was followed by a light rolling deformation of 15 % thickness reduction, the strength decreased and the elongation to failure increased. These results are consistent with those observed in the aluminum samples. Structural observations by transmission electron microscopy indicated that a removal of dislocations between the boundaries leads to a lack of dislocation sources, resulting in a higher stress to activate alternative dislocation sources. It was suggested that deformation rather than annealing could be a new route to improve the ductility of nanostructured metals and that a moderate light deformation gives a good balance of strength and ductility.

Abstract: High purity aluminum was processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) to reduce the grain size to ~1.3 m. Tensile specimens were cut from the as-pressed billets and these specimens were tested under conditions of high temperature creep. The results show excellent creep properties with a well-defined region of steady-state flow. The flow behavior is analyzed by comparing the creep data with the predicted behavior for different fundamental creep mechanisms and by plotting a deformation mechanism map to provide a visual representation of the creep properties.

Abstract: Equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) is a relatively new technique to produce ultrafine-grained materials by severe plastic deformation. Its efficiency of grain refinement varies with the processing route, i.e. the billet rotation () about its longitudinal axis between successive passes. The influence of processing route can not be fully explained by existing theories that consider only the macroscopic deformation features. In this study, the mesoscopic deformation behavior during multi-pass ECAE of face-centered cubic (FCC) metals was simulated using a visco-plasticity self-consistent (VPSC) polycrystal model and assuming simple shear deformation in each pass. It is shown that the slip activities vary significantly at the transitions between successive passes, depending on the die angle and processing route. The efficiencies of grain refinement in the different cases can be well correlated to the contribution of slip systems newly activated in a subsequent pass. The grain refinement is more efficient when such contributions are higher, such as in route B ( = 90) with a 90 die or route A ( = 0) with a 120 die. These crystal plasticity simulations provide insights into the efficiency of grain refinement during severe plastic deformation with strain path changes.

Abstract: In the present study, ultrafine-grained (UFG: grain size < 1m) HSLA and IF steels were investigated. The tensile test results showed that, because of different strengthening mechanisms, UFG HSLA steel represents finally better ductility than initially more ductile IF steel. The analysis performed in the present study is based on the mechanism of generation the dislocation structures and takes into account effects of precipitation and solid solution strengthening. The results of this analysis, implemented in FEM, enable to capture the moment of plastic instability of ultrafine-grained microalloyed steels. A good convergence of the proposed model was observed for the investigated steels. The fact that ductility, strengthening and deformation mechanisms are strictly connected to each other suggests that the proper use of their synergetic effect may be used to improve the ductility of UFG materials.