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On the Occurrence of Portevin–Le Châtelier Instabilities in Ultrafine-Grained 5083 Aluminum Alloys

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Abstract

The Portevin–Le Châtelier (PLC) instability is commonly observed in Al–Mg alloys and is manifested in serrated flow within the stress–strain response. We investigate the persistence of this instability with reduction in grain size by studying an ultrafine-grained (ufg) aluminum alloy (Al5083) and a conventional grain size Al5083. Micro-scale tensile tests combined with digital image correlation (DIC) reveal strength anisotropy and heterogeneity of the deformation in the three material directions (extrusion, rolled, and transverse). For the same applied displacement rate, the PLC effect in ufg-Al5083 is observed only over a small strain range immediately following the yield, while the coarse-grained Al5083 exhibits serrated flow over nearly the entire plastic strain range. These observations are explained using the stability analysis of Hähner (Acta Mater 45:3695–3707, 1997), and implications for nanocrystalline (nc) alloys are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. E.J. Lavernia for providing the material samples and for the TEM images of ufg-Al5083. SPJ, BC and KTR acknowledge the financial support received from the Army Research Laboratory (W911NF-06-2-0006). CE and KJH acknowledge the financial support received from AFOSR under the MEANS-2 Program (Grant No. FA9550-05-1-0173).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    S. P. Joshi

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    S. P. Joshi, C. Eberl, B. Cao, K. T. Ramesh (SEM member) & K. J. Hemker

  3. Institut für Zuverlässigkeit von Bauteilen und Systemen, Universität Karslruhe, Kaiserstr. 12, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    C. Eberl

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  1. S. P. Joshi
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Correspondence to S. P. Joshi.

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Joshi, S.P., Eberl, C., Cao, B. et al. On the Occurrence of Portevin–Le Châtelier Instabilities in Ultrafine-Grained 5083 Aluminum Alloys. Exp Mech 49, 207–218 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-008-9208-3

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