Strain hardening during superplastic deformation of A1-7475 alloy

Strain hardening dominates the deformation process in fine-grained A1-7475 alloy in the temperature range 400 to 515 °C. It is shown that anomalously low stress exponents are obtained as a result of strain hardening in strain-rate-change tests. In order to measure stress exponents in a quasi-steady state condition, the samples must be initially deformed at a relatively high stress (≍ 10 MPa) to a relatively high strain (∊ ≍ 0.5) before initiating a strain-rate-change test. Such a procedure revealed that a stress exponent about equal to two and an activation energy (141 kJ/mole) nearly equal to the activation energy for lattice diffusion are obtained. The results are interpreted in terms of a model involving grain boundary sliding accommodated by slip following the Gifkins' “core and mantle” concept. It is proposed that strain hardening is associated with the development of a boundary-dislocation structure in the mantle region in a manner similar to the development of subgrains in the core of a grain when slip is the principal deformation mode.