Texture, microstructure and mechanical properties of equiaxed ultrafine-grained Zr fabricated by accumulative roll bonding

The texture, microstructure and mechanical behavior of bulk ultrafine-grained (ufg) Zr fabricated by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) is investigated by electron backscatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and mechanical testing. A reasonably homogeneous and equiaxed ufg structure, with a large fraction of high angle boundaries (HABs, ∼70%), can be obtained in Zr after only two ARB cycles. The average grain size, counting only HABs (θ > 15°), is 400 nm. (Sub)grain size is equal to 320 nm. The yield stress and UTS values are nearly double those from conventionally processed Zr with only a slight loss of ductility. Optimum processing conditions include large thickness reductions per pass (ε ∼ 75%), which enhance grain refinement, and a rolling temperature (T ∼ 0.3Tm) at which a sufficient number of slip modes are activated, with an absence of significant grain growth. Grain refinement takes place by geometrical thinning and grain subdivision by the formation of geometrically necessary boundaries. The formation of equiaxed grains by geometric dynamic recrystallization is facilitated by enhanced diffusion due to adiabatic heating.