EFFECT OF HEAT TREATMENT ON MICROSTRUCTURAL INHOMOGENEITY OF CONSTRAINED GROOVE PRESSED Cu-Zn ALLOY

摘要

Constrained Groove Pressing (CGP) is a well-known severe plastic deformation technique that can impose an equivalent strain of 1.16 per pass on a sheet of metal. The process is expected to provide homogenous microstructure as well as enhanced mechanical properties with isotropic characteristics. However, our studies found that strong inhomogeneity exists in CGP processed microstructure of Cu-Zn alloy which also translates to non-uniformity and anisotropy in mechanical properties. In this work, we explore the effect of heat treatment of CGP processed samples on the inhomogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties. Electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) technique was used for microstructural characterization of the processed samples. Tensile tests were conducted to measure the uniformity in mechanical properties. Our results indicate that microstructural inhomogeneity exists even in heat treated CGP processed sample, however, mechanical properties showed a more uniform characteristics.