Influence of stacking fault energy on microstructural development in equal-channel angular pressing

Equal-channel angular (ECA) pressing is a procedure having the capability of introducing an ultrafine grain size into a material. Experiments were conducted to examine the effect of the low stacking fault energy in pure Cu on microstructural development during ECA pressing at room temperature. The results show that the low stacking fault energy and the consequent low rate of recovery lead to a very slow evolution of the microstructure during pressing. Ultimately, a stable grain size of -0.27 mu m was established in pure Cu but the microstructure was not fully homogeneous even after pressing to a total strain of similar to 10. It is shown by static annealing that the as-pressed grains are stable up to similar to 400 K, but at higher temperatures there is grain growth. These results lead to the conclusion that a low stacking fault energy is especially favorable for the introduction of an exceptionally small grain size using the ECA pressing procedure.