Experimental Evidence for Grain‐Boundary Sliding in Ultrafine‐Grained Aluminum Processed by Severe Plastic Deformation

Abstract

Evidence for grain boundary sliding in ultrafine-grained aluminum after processing with equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is presented (see Figure). Pure aluminum is used as a model material; depth sensing indentation testing and atomic force microscopy are used to measure the nature of the displacements around indentations for samples in an annealed and work-hardened condition, and after processing using ECAP.