The limits of refinement by severe plastic deformation

The effect of the different processing parameters on the refinement during severe plastic deformation is evaluated. The attention is focused to very high strains, where saturation in the structural refinement is observed. The single phase metals and alloys show a relatively uniform behaviour, with increasing strain the size of structural elements decreases and reaches saturation between equivalent strains of 5 to 50. The resulting ultra fine or nanostructured granular microstructure contains mainly high angle grain boundaries. Alloying, the temperature, and the strain path are the most important parameters controlling the saturation in the structural refinement. The behavior of the dual and multiphase materials during SPD is more complex, it varies from simple homogenisation of the phase distribution, fragmentation of one phase to disintegration and supersaturation of the phases. Severe plastic deformation of these types of materials offers the potential for the production of new types of materials with a nanocrystalline or a nanocomposite structure for a broad range of industrial applications.