ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY
college of mechanical and electrical engineering master’s
program in manufacturing engineering
Advanced Forming Process and Analysis
(MEng 6210)
Seminar on the topic of: - the effect of metallurgical
structure on forming process
Group members id no
1. Mekete Ababu GSR 0372/11
2. Berhanu Hiluf ETS 0240/08
3. Temesgen Chere GSR/0375/11
4. Kuma Debela ETS 0691/08

Submitted to: - DR. Wasihun

Abstract

Macrostructure, texture and mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials after

medium and large strains are reviewed. The existing deformation models are discussed on the basis
of the evidence presented, and mechanical properties and microstructure are correlated. Finally,
anisotropy and constitutive relations are discussed briefly.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1
2. effects of macroscopic variables on deformation processing: ............................................................. 1
2.1 Deformation textures ................................................................................................................... 2
2.2 Recovery........................................................................................................................................ 4
2.3 Re‐crystallization:.......................................................................................................................... 5
2.4 Grain boundary: ............................................................................................................................ 6
3. Flow stress-microstructure evolution ................................................................................................... 8
4. Plastic anisotropy .................................................................................................................................. 9
5. conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 10
6. References .......................................................................................................................................... 11
 1. Introduction
Deformation of metals and alloys is accompanied by changes in microstructure and texture. These changes
can provide information about the mechanisms of plastic flow and about strain-induced changes in the
mechanical properties. This paper will deal with medium and large deformations of polycrystalline
materials at low temperatures (where climb can be neglected). A characteristic behavior is exemplified by
f.c.c. metals (aluminum and copper), and it is discussed how this behavior is modified by metallurgical
parameters such as grain size and volume fraction and size of hard particles. The microstructural and
textural information is related to the flow stress-strain behavior, and the relationship between the flow stress
and various microstructural parameters is described. Plastic anisotropy is also described briefly.

2. effects of macroscopic variables on deformation processing:

The structure and properties of metals after deformation processing would depend on the processing
parameters. These are stress, temperature, strain rate & the magnitude of strain at every stages of
deformation. Although in an actual deformation process these may vary with time from point to point it is
often helpful to consider material response under constant stress or strain rate to understand the underlying
physical processes taking place during deformation. In general, the strain rate at point within a metal during
deformation is a function of the local stress (), temperature (T) and its microstructure (S). There may be
several structural parameters that may affect deformation behavior. They include grain size, dislocation
density, volume fraction of precipitate, inter particle spacing etc.

The evaluation of deformation behavior of metals is done by subjecting it to uniaxial tension or

compression. The test is done by either load or displacement control mode. At lower temperatures strain
increases linearly as long as the stress is below the elastic limit. Once the yield stress is exceeded plastic
deformation takes place. This is accompanied by strain hardening and a corresponding increase in
dislocation density. At low temperatures dislocations can only glide. In metals having high stacking fault
energy there may be some amount strain softening because of cross slip.

Metallurgical parameters as grain size, second phase particles, elements in solid solution etc. affect the slip
patterns and the resultant microstructures. Most of these effects have not been quantified, except for the
cell size, which tends to decrease when solute elements and particles are introduced. Furthermore, the cell
size is affected by the stacking fault energy of the base metal. The effect of grain size and large and small
particles on the slip pattern will be discussed in the following.

Grain size. Surface relief patterns show that the slip line structure is finer in fine-grained specimens for
small degrees of deformation. The slip pattern is inhomogeneous in nature. However, the non-uniform

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distribution of slip bands tends to be least pronounced in fine-grained specimens. With increasing degree
of deformation, the slip pattern becomes quite similar in fine-grained and coarse-grained specimens.

Large particles. The presence of coarse hard particles (> 0.1μm) causes plastic inhomogeneity at the
interface between particles and matrix which, can lead to the formation of local deformation zones where
the lattice is rotated significantly with respect to the matrix.

2.1 Deformation textures

The deformation textures of f.c.c. materials have been studied extensively, particularly the rolling textures.
Such studies combined with model calculations can give important information about deformation
mechanisms and about the effect of texture on the relationship between the flow stress and strain and on
anisotropy. The emphasis in the present work will be on materials developing a copper type rolling texture,
in particular aluminum.

Figure 5 shows the texture of pure aluminum (99.998%) rolled 90 % as expressed in the pole figure. The
aluminum texture is a copper type texture (as opposed to the brass-type texture developed in materials with
low stacking-fault energy). For comparison with figure 5 the pole figure for rolled copper is shown in figure
6. These figures show that the textures in aluminum and copper are comparable, although not identical. The
differences can be elucidated by comparing the experimental pole figures with those calculated on the basis
of texture models.

Deformation textures are qualitatively and quantitatively affected by a number of metallurgical

parameters including the stacking fault energy. However, in the following we shall concentrate on the effect
of grain size and dispersed particles and hence neglect the problem of the formation of the brass type texture.

Effect of grain size. The effect of grain size on the textural development during cold rolling has been
studied in some detail and it is found that an increase in grain size reduces the rate of textural development
and decreases the maximum orientation densities even at large degrees of deformation. studying the effect
of grain size, an inherent problem is that a variation in this parameter normally is accompanied by a change
in the initial texture. Thus, the textural development observed might be a combined effect of the two
parameters. This has been taken into account in an experimental investigation of the effect of grain size on

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the texture and microstructure of commercially pure aluminum (approx.99.5%) cold rolled from 15 to 95%
reduction in thickness at room temperature and in an investigation by computer simulation. The results
from these studies show that both the initial grain size and the starting texture have pronounced effects on
the development of the rolling texture and that these effects are significantly reduced at large rolling
reductions.

Effect of large particles. The effect of coarse hard particles (> 0.1μm) on the deformation texture has not
been investigated systematically. However, a number of experimental findings for various materials
indicates that the presence of large particles in general causes a weakening of the texture and that this effect
becomes more pronounced when the volume concentration of particles is large. The randomizing effect of
large particles on the textural development can be related to the for-motion of deformation zones at the
particles where the lattice is rotated significantly with respect to the matrix. How much the deformation
texture in a polycrystalline material actually is weakened by the presence of large particles will therefore
depend on the volume fraction of particles, the size of the deformation zones and the lattice rotations within
the zones. But besides that, the spread of the texture in the particle free matrix is important. This spread
may depend on parameters such as material, starting texture, grain size, degree of reduction etc.

Effect of small particles. The effect of small hard (non-shearable) particles (<0.1μm) on the deformation
textures have been investigated in a number of studies, but it is difficult to establish a trend. For small
volume concentration of particles some studies have shown that the texture is strengthened whereas in other
cases a neutral or a weakening effect has been observed. For large volume concentrations of particles, the
general effect appears to be that the deformation texture is weakened. One might imagine that
homogenization of the slip pattern is the predominant effect for small volume fractions of particles and that
this might produce texture strengthening. For large fractions the distortion of the slip pattern would
dominate, resulting in a weakening of the texture.

During plastic deformation new dislocations are generated. The subsequent glide motion encounters more
dislocation – dislocation interactions. This leads to the formation of dislocation locks and pile ups that act
as obstacles to the further movement of dislocations. This is the reason for work hardening. At a higher
temperature where vacancies are more mobile (self-diffusion coefficient is high) the edge dislocations can
could climb as well. The additional mobility helps the dislocations to climb over the obstacle and move
over to a new slip plane where it may get annihilated by interaction with dislocations having opposite
character or get rearranged in the form of a more stable network having lower stored energy. This process
is known as recovery. This is responsible for softening. Thus, during deformation at relatively higher

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temperatures there are two concurrent processes occurring within the metal. These are strain hardening and
recovery. At a given temperature the former depends only on the stress and it is independent of time whereas
the latter being associated with diffusion depends on time. As a consequence, after some time the process
tends to reach a steady state when the increase in work hardening is balanced by the loss of strength due to
recovery.

If the temperature is raised further the deformed grains become unstable. They get replaced by a set of new
strain free grains. The process is called re‐crystallization. It needs a certain amount of stored energy to
initiate. In short thermally activated dislocation glide, recovery by annihilation & rearrangement of
dislocations, formation of sub‐grains, and re‐crystallization are the main mechanisms of hot working. The
stacking fault energy plays an important on the evolution of a stable dislocation network during the process.
Al & ferritic steel have high stacking fault energy. The dislocations can cross slip. The recovery or the
rearrangement of dislocation is easier. The deformation process is also supported by thermal activation.
Austenitic steel & Ni have low stacking fault. This makes cross slip difficult. The effect of strain hardening
is more. With strain the stored energy increases until re crystallization sets in and new strain free grains are
formed. The new grains too undergo deformation. This gives oscillating flow stress. It is also known as
dynamic re‐crystallization.

2.2 Recovery
The figure shown below illustrates how thermal activation helps in the rearrangement of dislocation. The
sketch on top left shows the direction of forces that acts on a dislocation due to the elastic stress field of the
one located at the origin. The firm lines are the reference axes. The dotted lines are at 45° to the reference
axes. If the location of the dislocation is below the dotted line as shown there will be a force along the
vertical axis and repulsive force along the horizontal axis. The vertical force helps the dislocation climb up.

Once it crosses the dotted line the nature of the force along the horizontal axis changes from repulsion to
one of attraction. As a result, it comes to occupy a position just above the dislocation at the Centre. This
happens to be a position of stable equilibrium. Even if it is displaced by a small distance there will be

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restoring force acting on it to bring it back. If there are several dislocations and the temperature is high
enough to provide thermal activation to support the process of climb though diffusion of vacancies an array
of dislocations similar to the one shown on the right in slide 6 would develop. The two sides of the array
get tilted because of the stress field. The line separating the two is known as the tilt boundary. The formation
of such an array is associated with reduction in elastic stored energy. Apart from this the climb may also
help in annihilation of dislocations. This is schematically shown in the sketch at the bottom of slide 6. If a
dislocation climbs to a plane where there is another dislocation of opposite character the force of attraction
between the two would bring them closer leading to complete annihilation.

2.3 Re‐crystallization:
The bulk of the work done on the metal during plastic deformation is dissipated as heat. However, some of
it remains within the metal in the form of stored elastic energy. This makes it thermodynamically unstable.
The sketch on the left shows the initial structure of a homogeneous alloy. It consists of equi axed grains
having random orientations. The sketch at the center shows its structure after plastic deformation. The
grains are elongated. This is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the area of the boundary. The
dislocation density within the grain also increases. These two accounts for the increase in the elastic stored
energy. Let the stored energy per unit volume be equal to ΔGv. This is less than zero. In thermodynamics
negative energy is an indicator of instability. It acts as the driving force for transformation to a more stable
state. Even though the cold worked state has enough driving force for transformation it could remain in this
state indefinitely. This is because the formation of new strain free grains is associated with the formation
of new grain boundaries. The elastic stored energy may not be enough to provide the same. It needs
additional thermal activation to support it. Let the energy of the new boundary be equal to σ. This is greater
than zero. If the radius of the new grains be r, the total energy of transformation is given by the following
expression.

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2.4 Grain boundary:

Metals have a crystalline structure - this is not usually visible but can be seen on galvanized lamp posts for
example. When a metal solidifies from the molten state, millions of tiny crystals start to grow.

The longer the metal takes to cool the larger the crystals grow.

These crystals form the grains in the solid metal.

Each grain is a distinct crystal with its own orientation.

The areas between the grains are known as grain boundaries.

Within each grain, the individual atoms form a crystalline lattice. Each atom will have a certain number
of close neighbors with which it shares loose bonds. (The number of neighboring atoms depends upon the
structure of the lattice.) When stress is applied to the metal, the atoms will start to spread apart. The atomic
bonds stretch, and the attractive forces between the atoms will oppose the applied stress, like millions of
tiny springs. If the metal has not yielded, the interatomic forces will pull the metal back into its original
shape when the stress is removed.

When the metal is cold worked by forging, stamping or rolling its shape is permanently changed (deformed)
this is only possible because of defects (dislocations) in the grain structure which move through the crystal
structure. These dislocations or slips in the grain structure allow the overall change in shape of the metal.
Each grain can have a very large number of dislocations (only visible under a powerful microscope). if the

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metal is hot worked there is more energy to available for the dislocations to move. This is why the strength
of most materials falls as the temperature goes up.

Strong materials are those that can slow down or stop the movement of the dislocations. This can be
achieved by increasing the number of dislocations by cold work or work hardening (together known as
stress hardening). Alloying where the other metal interacts with the crystal lattice blocking the movement
of the dislocation. (Brass is a good example of this where the small percentage of zinc makes the brass
stronger than either copper or zinc.)

The distance between the two dislocations gives a measure of the angle of mis‐orientation between the two
sub‐grains. The energy of such a boundary depends on this angle. This is usually less than 5°. The
orientation of grains on the two sides of the boundary is random. There is no relation between the
orientations of the two. Such boundaries are known as high angle boundaries. Their energies are higher
than that of a low angle grain boundary.

The figure below shows the sketch of a microstructure of an annealed polycrystalline metal. In 2D grain
boundaries are represented as lines. Grain boundary energy is expressed as energy per unit area (J/m2). It
can also be visualized as line tension having the dimension of force / unit length (N/m). The points at which
more than two grains meet may be considered as a node. The grain boundary energies are denoted as 12,
23, and 31. They also denote line tension acting along the 3 directions. In order to maintain equilibrium
the ratio of the line tension and the sin of the opposite angles should be equal. The relation is shown in
figure below.

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 3. Flow stress-microstructure evolution
The microstructural development is characterized by an increase in the dislocation density. The flow stress
(σ) is related to the dislocation density (ρ) by the general equation

where α is a constant (for which the magnitude may depend on the character of the dislocation arrangement),
b is the Burgers vector and G is the shear modulus. At low and medium strains p has been found to be
proportional to the plastic strain.

The stress may be related to the microstructure through a relationship between the flow stress and some
characteristic microstructural parameters. At present most of such studies have concentrated on the stress
dependence of the cell size, but many results are inconclusive. This is for instance caused by the relatively
large experimental scatter and the rather small variation in the cell size which normally can be obtained for
a given set of experimental parameters. Furthermore, the dislocation arrangements in the cell walls may
depend on the experimental conditions, e.g. the deformation temperature. Thus, the experimental scatter
may increase significantly when the analysis is based on a compilation of experiments obtained under
different experimental conditions. The relation between the flow stress (σ) and the cell size (t) may be
expressed by the equation.

where σo is a friction stress corresponding to very large t values (zero strain) and K and m are constants.

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 Flow stress (0.2% offset) at room temperature of 99.998% Al as a function of the
reciprocal cell size (a) and the reciprocal square root of the cell size (b).

4. Plastic anisotropy
If a material at different directions of the coordinate system attached to a point shows different properties
then the material is said to be anisotropic. The reason for the anisotropy is the mechanic or thermal
operations applied to the metal. Especially anisotropy is seen in rolling operation, in the rolling direction.

There are a lot of studies performed on anisotropic material’s yield criteria. Hill determined the below yield
criteria function:

2 f  ij   F  y   z   G  z   x   H  x   y   2 L yz2  2M zx2  2 N xy2  1

2 2 2

Here F, G, H, L, M and N are the characteristic parameters determining the anisotropy. In case the
material is isotropic

L  M  N  3F  3G  3H

and when these are placed into Hill’s equation the new equation turns to be the same form as von-Mises
equation which is valid for isotropic materials.

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 5. conclusion
The understanding of the metallurgical structure, mechanical properties, and processability of new
alloys has been the main advance in metal forming. While metallurgical structural heterogeneities
are still observed, characterization work has shown certain features (columnar grains, high
orientation, amount of porosity, etc.) to persist across technologies and materials.

Grain boundaries are barriers to slip that is they oppose deformation. Barrier "strength“ increases
with misorientation. The Smaller grain size the more barriers are to slip. The Hall Petch equation
(σyield =σo + ky.d-1/2) indicates that the yield strength has an inverse square root relation with grain
size (d). Theoretically, a material can be made infinitely strong if the grains are made infinitely
small and vice versa. The vice versa process has significant importance in formability of the
material. So the grain size should be as large as possible to maintain good formability.

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 6. References
Microstructures, textures and mechanical properties after large strain N. Hansen, T. Leffers,1988

Leffers, T. and Juul Jensen, D., Textures and Microstructures 6 (1986) 231

Mechanical Metallurgy GEORGE E. DIETER, JR.

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