• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.545-553
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• 2008

Dynamic deformation behavior of ultra-fine-grained pure coppers fabricated by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was investigated in this study. Dynamic torsional tests were conducted on four copper specimens using a torsional Kolsky bar, and then the test data were analyzed by their microstructures and tensile properties. The 1-pass ECAP'ed specimen consisted of fine dislocation cell structures elongated along the ECAP direction, which were changed to very fine, equiaxed subgrains of 300~400 nm in size as the pass number increased. The dynamic torsional test results indicated that maximum shear stress increased with increasing ECAP pass number. Adiabatic shear bands were not found at the gage center of the dynamically deformed torsional specimen of the 1- or 4-pass ECAP'ed specimen, while some weak bands were observed in the 8-pass ECAP'ed specimen. These findings suggested that the grain refinement according to the ECAP was very effective in strengthening of pure coppers, and that ECAP'ed coppers could be used without serious reduction in fracture resistance under dynamic torsional loading as adiabatic shear bands were hardly formed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.207-210
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• 2004

The deformation behavior of copper during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was calculated using a three-dimensional version of a constitutive model based on the dislocation density evolution. Finite element simulations of the variation of the dislocation density and the dislocation cell size with the number of ECAP passes are reported. The calculated stress, strain and cell size are compared with the experimental data for Cu deformed by ECAP in a modified Route C regime. The results of FEM analysis were found to be in good agreement with the experiments. After a rapid initial decrease down to about 200 nm in the first ECAP pass, the average cell size was found to change little with further passes. Similarly, the strength increased steeply after the first pass, but tended to saturate with further pressings. The FEM simulations also showed strain non-uniformities and the dependence of the resulting strength on the location within the workpiece.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.34-38
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• 2016

In this paper, a transversely isotropic behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy produced by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) process was investigated through tensile test and microstructure observation. The effects of initial ECAP pass number on the anisotropic behavior and mechanical properties of the Mg alloy are evaluated after conventional direct extrusion test, which are carried out at a temperature of $200^{\circ}C$. As a result of the tensile test in three directions ($0^{\circ}$, $45^{\circ}$, and $90^{\circ}$ to the extrusion direction of the sheet) at room temperature, elongation of as-extruded AZ31 alloy(ECAP for 0 pass) showed an unusual anisotropic behavior depending on the extrusion direction although the yield strength and tensile strength are similar to the ECAPed AZ31 alloy. After ECAP for 4 passes at $200^{\circ}C$, microstructural observations of ECAPed magnesium alloy showed a significant grain refinement, which is leading to an equiaxed grain structure with average size of $2.5{\mu}m$. The microstructures of the extruded billet are observed by the use of an electron back-scattering diffraction (EBSD) technique to evaluate of the influence on the grain refinement during extrusion process and re-crystallization mechanism of AZ31 Mg alloy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.306-309
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• 2009

The influence of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) route on dynamic deformation behavior of ultra-fine grained Al-4.4%Mg alloys was investigated in this study. The 8-pass ECAPed specimens consisted of ultra-fine grains of $0.5{\mu}m$ in size, and contained the considerable amount of second phase particles, which were fragmented and distributed homogeneously in the matrix. The result of dynamic torsional tests indicated that the maximum shear stress and fracture shear strain were lowest in the specimen deformed by ECAP via route A among the 8-pass ECAPed specimens. The formation of adiabatic shear bands was addressed by concepts of critical shear strain, deformation energy required for void initiation, and microstructural homogeneity related to ECAP routes.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.222-226
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• 2018

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) is a promising method for drastically enhancing the mechanical properties of the materials by grain refinement of metallic materials. However, inhomogeneous deformation during the SPD process results in the inhomogeneous microstructure of the SPD-processed material. We manufactured cylindrical copper specimens of 42 mm in diameter with ultrafine grains (UFG) using an equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) to figure out the relationship between homogeneous microstructure and the number of the processing passes. Two specimens, which are ECAP-processed 4 times (4pass) and 6 times (6pass) each with Route Bc, are prepared for comparison of mechanical properties and microstructure. The results show that the mechanical properties of the two specimens (4pass and 6pass) are similar. Moreover, both the specimens show highly enhanced mechanical properties. The 4pass specimen, however, shows inhomogeneity in hardness distribution, while the 6pass specimen shows a homogeneous distribution. Microstructure analysis reveals that the 4pass specimen has an inhomogeneous microstructure with incompletely refined grain structure. This inhomogeneity of the 4pass specimen could be explained by the circumferential rotation during ECAP process.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.15 no.6 s.87
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• pp.441-444
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• 2006

The deformation behavior of copper during equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) was calculated using a three-dimensional version of a constitutive model based on the dislocation density evolution. Finite element simulations of the variation of the dislocation density and the dislocation cell size with the number of ECAP passes are reported. The calculated stress, strain and cell size are compared with the experimental data for Cu deformed by ECAP in a modified Route C regime. The results of FEM analysis were found to be in good agreement with the experiments. After a rapid initial decrease down to about 200nm in the first ECAP pass, the average cell size was found to change little with further passes. Similarly, the strength increased steeply after the first pass, but tended to saturate with further pressings. The FEM simulations also showed strain non-uniformities and the dependence of the resulting strength on the location within the workpiece.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.217-222
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• 2008

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is one of the effective methods to produce bulk-nano materials by accumulating plastic strain into the workpiece without changing its cross-sectional shape in the multi-pass processing. However, the forming load becomes higher for manufacturing large specimens using conventional solid or split dies because of friction, flash formation, and usage of dummy specimen. In the present investigation, better split die was designed to reduce the forming loads and improve the geometrical accuracy of the specimen in the multi-pass ECAP. The new die exit channel was also designed to reduce the friction effect. Experiments with AA1050 specimens with a square cross-section were carried out to examine the design goal using the proposed split dies for routes A and C up to four passes. The numerical forming simulations were used to determine the effective geometry of various die models in the present work.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.15 no.7 s.88
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• pp.524-528
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• 2006

Although equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), imposing large plastic shear strain deformation by moving a workpiece through two intersecting channels, is a promising severe plastic deformation method for grain refinement of metallic materials, its batch type characteristic makes ECAP inefficient for multiple-passing. Rotary-die ECAP (RDECAP) proposed by Nishida et al. can achieve high productivity by using continuous processing without taking out the samples from the channel. However, plastic deformation behavior during RD-ECAP has not been investigated. In this study, material plastic flow and strain hardening behavior of the workpiece during RD-ECAP was investigated using the finite element method. It was found that plastic deformation becomes inhomogeneous with the number of passes due to an end effect, which was not found seriously in ECAP. Especially, decreasing corner gap with increasing the number of passes was observed and explained by the strain hardening effect.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.68-74
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• 2006

2024 Al alloys were severely deformed by equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) to obtain an ultrafine grain structure. The more deformation amount increased, the more grain size decreased. Most of the grain structure were changed from elongated to equiaxed shape with increasing pass number. The morphology of S' phases was also changed from rod-type to spherical type. The grain size of 6 passed specimen was 100 to 200 nm, and the size of S' phases was about 10 nm in the microstructure. XRD measurements have revealed that the texture formed by plastic deformation disappeared in the 6 passed specimen. SP test results described that the start of crack propagation occurred at the transition zone between plastic bending and membrane stretching because of small elongation. The maximum strength of ECA pressed specimen increased 1.9 GPa to 2.9 GPa with increasing pass number.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2011

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) with intermediate heat treatment was employed to optimize the strength of Cu-15 wt.%Ag. Changes in microstructure, electrical properties and mechanical properties were studied as a function of pressing methods and heat treatment. ECAPed Cu-15wt.%Ag exhibited ultrafine-grained microstructures with the shape and distribution of Ag-rich lamellae dependent on the processing routes. For route A in which the sample was pressed without rotation between each pass, the initial dendrites of Ag-rich phase were elongated along the shear direction and developed into elongated filaments. For route C in which the sample was rotated by 180 degree after each pass, the morphology of initial dendrites of Ag-rich phase was not much modified and the networked structure remained even after 8 passes of ECAP. For route Bc in which the sample was rotated by 90 degree after each pass, the initial dendrites became finer by fragmentation with no pronounced change of the shape and distribution of Ag-rich lamellae. The strength of Cu-15wt.%Ag ECAPed using route Bc was found to be greater than those ECAPed using route A, suggesting that the substructural strengthening is more effective in strengthening than the interface strengthening.