Use of ring sample for high-pressure torsion and microstructural evolution with equivalent strain

This study introduces a process of high-pressure torsion (HPT) using ring samples and compares with the results of conventional disk HPT. Both types of HPT were conducted at room temperature on pure Al and pure Cu. The microhardness was measured along the diameters of the disks and rings. Microstructures were examined using transmission electron microscopy. When hardness values were plotted against equivalent strain, all data points fell on a single line for each material. There was a hardness maximum for pure Al but no such a maximum was present in pure Cu. In pure Al, many dislocations were visible within grains up to the equivalent strain corresponding to the hardness maximum but beyond this strain, grains with low dislocation density appear. All materials exhibited steady state where the hardness remains constant with respect to imposed equivalent strain. This study concludes that use of ring samples is effective as an alternative to the disk samples.