Grain refinement in a Cu-Cr-Zr alloy during multidirectional forging

Abstract

Structural changes during plastic deformation were studied in a Cu-0.3%Cr-0.5%Zr alloy subjected to multidirectional forging up to a total strain of 4 at the temperatures of 300 K and 673 K. The deformation behavior was characterized by a rapid increase in the flow stress at an early deformation followed by a steady-state flow at large strain. The development of the new ultrafine grains resulted from the progressive increase in the misorientations of the strain-induced low-angle boundaries, which evolve into high-angle boundaries with increasing cumulative strain through a strain-induced continuous reaction that is quite similar to continuous dynamic recrystallization