Three-dimensional imaging of shear band produced by ECAP process in Al-Ag alloy

摘要

A significant change in microstructure occurs during the application of severe plastic deformation (SPD) such as by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). In this study, intense plastic strain was imposed on an Al-10.8wt%Ag alloy by the ECAP process. The amount of strain was controlled by the numbers of passes. After 1 pass of ECAP, shear bands became visible within the matrix. With increasing numbers of ECAP passes, the fraction of shear bands was increased. In this study, the change in microstructures was examined by three-dimensional electron tomography (3D-ET) in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). With this 3D-ET method, it was possible to conduct a precise analysis of the sizes, widths and distributions of the shear bands produced by the ECAP process. It is demonstrated that the 3D-ET method is promising to understand mechanisms of microstructural refinement using the ECAP process.