New Grain Formation in a Coarse-Grained 7475 Al Alloy during Severe Hot Forging

Strain-induced grain refinement in a coarse-grained 7475Al alloy was studied by means of multidirectional forging (MDF) carried out at T = 490oC under a strain rate of 3 x 10-4 s-1. Integrated flow curves exhibit significant work softening just after yielding, followed by steady-state-like behavior at high strains. The evolution of new fine grain structure during deformation can be assisted by grain-boundary sliding, resulting in frequent formation of high strain gradients and subsequently microshear bands in grain interiors. Microshear bands developed in various directions are intersected with each other, subdividing original grains into misoriented small domains. The number and the misorientation angle of microshear bands progressively increase during deformation, finally followed by their transformation into high-angle boundaries. It is concluded that grain refinement under hot MDF conditions occurs by a series of deformation-induced continuous reactions; that is essentially similar to continuous dynamic recrystallization.