Superplasticity in ultrafine-grained materials

Abstract

Superplasticity refers to the ability of a polycrystalline solid to exhibit a high elongation, of at least 400% or more, when testing in tension. The basic characteristics of superplastic flow are now understood and a theoretical model is available to describe the flow process both in conventional superplastic materials where the grain sizes are a few micrometers and in ultrafinegrained materials processed by severe plastic deformation where the grain sizes are in the submicrometer range. This report describes the basic characteristics of superplastic metals, gives examples of flow in ultrafine-grained materials, demonstrates the use of deformation mechanism mapping for providing a visual display of the flow processes and provides a direct comparison with the conventional model for superplastic flow. The report also describes the potential for using nanoindentation to obtain detailed information on the flow properties using only exceptionally small samples.