Stability of Ultrafine-Grained Microstructure in Fcc Metals Processed by Severe Plastic Deformation

Abstract

The thermal stability of ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure in face centered cubic metals processed by severe plastic deformation (SPD) was studied. The influence of the SPD procedure on the stability was investigated for Cu samples processed by Equal-Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP), High-Pressure Torsion (HPT), Multi-Directional Forging and Twist Extrusion at room temperature (RT). It is found that HPT results in the lowest thermal stability due to the very high dislocation density. Furthermore, the effect of the low stacking fault energy of Ag on the stability is also investigated. It is revealed that the UFG microstructure produced in Ag by ECAP is recovered and recrystallized during storage at room temperature. The driving force for this unusual recovery and recrystallization is the high dislocation density developed during ECAP due to the high degree of dislocation dissociation caused by the very low stacking fault energy of Ag.