A new constitutive equation for strain hardening and softening of fcc metals during severe plastic deformation

The stress–strain relationship for strain hardening and softening of high-purity aluminum and copper, which were deformed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at ambient temperature, was analyzed by combining the Estrin and Mecking (EM) model and an Avrami-type equation with experimental data during severe plastic deformation. The initial strain hardening can be described by the EM model, while the flow stress arrives at the peak stress after it was saturated. However, strain softening similar to plastic deformation at high temperatures is observed after the peak stress. Moreover, the peak strain at the maximum flow stress is ∼4 for copper and ∼2 for aluminum. A new constitutive equation was developed to describe strain softening at high strain levels, which was supported well by tensile, compression and microhardness tests at room temperature and low strain rate. It was observed that dynamic recovery and recrystallization occurs in copper, and recrystallized grains and their growth in aluminum. The results indicate that dynamic recovery and recrystallization was the dominant softening mechanism, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy–electron channeling contrast observations and the abnormal relationship between the imposed strain during ECAP and subsequent recrystallization temperature after ECAP.