Influence of processing temperature on microstructure and microhardness of copper subjected to high-pressure torsion

Cu samples were subjected to high-pressure torsion (HPT) with up to 6 turns at room temperature (RT) and liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT), respectively. The effects of temperature on grain refinement and microhardness variation were investigated. For the samples after HPT processing at RT, the grain size reduced from 43 mu m to 265 nm, and the Vickers microhardness increased from HV52 to HV140. However, for the samples after HPT processing at LNT, the value of microhardness reached its maximum of HV150 near the center of the sample and it decreased to HV80 at the periphery region. Microstructure observations revealed that HPT straining at LNT induced lamellar structures with thickness less than 100 nm appearing near the central region of the sample, but further deformation induced an inhomogeneous distribution of grain sizes, with submicrometer-sized grains embedded inside micrometer-sized grains. The submicrometer-sized grains with high dislocation density indicated their nonequilibrium nature. On the contrary, the micrometer-sized grains were nearly free of dislocation, without obvious deformation trace remaining in them. These images demonstrated that the appearance of micrometer-sized grains is the result of abnormal grain growth of the deformed fine grains.