Structure and properties of nanomaterials produced by severe plastic deformation

In recent years, a number of methods for refining the structure of metals by severe plastic deformation (SPD) have been developed. Some of those methods permit grain refinement to a nanometric level. These methods include, among others, high pressure torsion (HPT), equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and hydrostatic extrusion (HE). The aim of this paper was a more detailed description of these methods and presentation of exemplary applications of these methods for structure refinement and improvement of mechanical properties of chosen materials. The results obtained in the present study show that the microstructures of the materials subjected to SPD studied in this work displayed considerable refinement, characterised by the formation of nanosized grains. Such a refinement resulted in increased tensile strength and hardness of the SPD materials studied in this work. In view of the results obtained on a large number of metals and alloys, a conclusion can be drawn that SPD could become an attractive way of processing materials for variety of applications.