Direct observations of microstructural evolution in a two-phase Cu–Ag alloy processed by high-pressure torsion

Received 9 January 2010; received in revised form 27 February 2010; accepted 3 March 2010. published online 08 March 2010.

Disks of a coarse-grained Cu–28wt.% Ag alloy were processed by high-pressure torsion, and the decorative eutectic regions were used to reveal the evolution of deformation. It is shown that the deformation starts at the peripheries of the disks in the form of local vortices and then spreads inwards with increasing the number of revolutions. The experimental evidence confirms that the center of the disk also experiences a strain after five revolutions.

Keywords: Cu–Ag alloy, Deformation processes, High-pressure torsion, Homogenization

a Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110016, China

b Materials Research Group, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

c Departments of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1453, USA

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 24 23971043.

PII: S1359-6462(10)00152-1

doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2010.03.014

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