Processing of commercially pure copper tubes by hydrostatic tube cyclic extrusion–compression (HTCEC) as a new SPD method

In this study, severe plastic deformation (SPD) process of hydrostatic tube cyclic extrusion–compression (HTCEC) was performed through two passes on the commercially pure copper tubes with the purpose of fabricating relatively long ultrafine-grained (UFG) tubes. In HTCEC process, the presence of pressurized hydraulic fluid around the piece plays a key role in the reduction of the friction load and, consequently, in the reduction of required pressing load. In principle, this facilitates the production of long and large tubes. After processing by HTCEC, the mechanical characteristics and microstructure evolution were examined. Microstructure analysis revealed that after the first pass of HTCEC process, an ultrafine cell microstructure with an average size of ~ 993 nm was attained. After two passes of HTCEC, the average size of cells/subgrains was reduced to ~ 340 nm. This was while the average grain size of the annealed sample was 41 μm. Also, after two passes of HTCEC process, a remarkable increase in the yield strength from 154 to 336 MPa, and the ultimate strength from 223 to 414 MPa was observed. Furthermore, the mean value of microhardness increased from 74 to 149 HV, and a more uniform distribution of microhardness along the thickness was seen, compared to the first pass of HTCEC. Meanwhile, unlike most conventional SPD methods, the value of elongation to failure was slightly lessened from 59.5 to 41.6%. SEM fractography analysis denoted that mostly ductile fracture occurred in the HTCEC-processed samples. In general, two main advantages of HTCEC process can be the production of relatively long ultrafine-grained tubes and the significant increase in the strength and hardness besides a low loss of ductility.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023)