Microstructural evaluation of an Al-Mg alloy after ECAP and post ECAP processing

Abstract

This work focuses on the effect of pre-deformation treatment and post-deformation aging on the microstructure, especially the precipitation kinetics of the Al-Mg aluminium alloy. The UFG material was produced by equal channel angular pressing which resulted in dramatic increase of mechanical strength. Important anomalies resulting from the severe plastic deformation appeared in the dilatometric curves, which must be influenced by the recrystallization and the precipitation processes. Furthermore, the acceleration effect of SPD processing on precipitation nucleation was confirmed.