Mechanical properties in progressive mechanically processed metallic material

Abstract

The introduction of thermomechanical treatment represented a breakthrough in grain refinement, consequently leading to significant improvement of the mechanical properties of metallic materials. Contrary to conventional production technologies, the main advantage of such treatment is the possibility to precisely control structural phenomena that affect the final mechanical and utility properties. Thermomechanical treatment can only decrease the grain size to the scale of microns. However, further research devoted to pushing materials’ performance beyond the limits led to the introduction of severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods providing producers with the ability to acquire ultra-fine-grained and nanoscaled metallic materials with superior mechanical properties. SPD methods can be performed with the help of conventional forming equipment; however, many newly designed processes have also been introduced.