Grain rearrangements during superplastic deformation

Abstract

Current models for obtaining large superplastic flow without change of grain size are two-dimensional; they therefore involve rearrangement of grains without increasing the surface area of the specimen as it deforms. A new model is proposed in which grainboundary sliding (GBS) in a group of grains is accommodated by a grain emerging from the next layer of grains, giving the correct increase in surface area. This also produces curved grain boundaries and there is some rotation of grains involving plastic flow in a zone along grain boundaries (the “mantle”) of predictable width. Grains do not have to be uniform and regular for the process. Characteristic configurations of marker lines are produced by the deformation. All these features are shown to have been observed in the literature. The model does not predict a threshold stress. It can be linked with a previous constitutive equation based on the climb and glide of dislocations in the grain mantles.