The grain structure refinement of metals and alloys under severe plastic deformation: experimental data and analysis of mechanisms

Wide opportunities of using fine-grained materials as structural and functional materials with advanced physical and mechanical properties have proved the importance of improving the existing technology and creating new processing methods and treatment conditions for such ma-terials. At the same time, a preliminary theoretical analysis using mathematical models gives an opportunity to significantly reduce the cost of such experimental studies. Thus, it is necessary to develop multilevel models of polycrystalline metals and alloys based on crystal plasticity with the description of structure, deformation mechanisms and refinement at various scale levels. To con-struct a correct model of such a class, it is necessary to analyze information and arrange a large amount of experimental data about grain structure refinement. The article presents a review of the experimental studies describing and analyzing the grain structure refinement during severe plastic deformations of various metal alloys. The refine-ment mainly occurs at low temperatures that are a priori lower than the temperatures at which re-crystallization becomes an important factor and the solid-state phase transitions may take place. We have summarized the significant physical mechanisms of the grain refinement during cold deformation based on the arranged experimental data from the review. All the considered articles pay attention to the local accumulation of lattice dislocations inside the grains (in the form of flat clusters), which leads to the lattice curvature and separation of grains into cells. As a result of a further accumulation of dislocations in the walls, there comes an increase in misorientation of the neighboring cells. The curved lattice is unstable (it seems clear that the flat clusters become a source of such curvatures) and relaxes with the formation and movement of the partial disclina-tions, which leads to the rotation of the adjacent grain regions and creation of new grain bounda-ries. In addition, the mesoscale defects located at the junctions of the grains (including the boundary intersection disclinations), flat clusters of the dislocations of the orientational mismatch at the grain boundaries and partial dislocations in the grains have a significant effect on the frag-mentation. The articles about the severe plastic deformation at high temperatures are briefly de-scribed here. It is noted that recrystallization is the main mechanism of the fine-grained structure formation under these conditions. We suggest including the description of the discussed mechanisms in the multilevel con-stitutive material models. When new experimental data appear for a specific process of the severe plastic deformation, the considered refinement mechanisms can be added.