Revealing grain coarsening and detwinning in bimodal Cu under tension

Metals with a bimodal grain size distribution have been found to have both high strength and good ductility. However, the coordinated deformation mechanisms underneath the ultrafine-grains (UFGs) and coarse grains (CGs) still remain undiscovered yet. In present work, a bimodal Cu with 80% volume fraction of recrystallized micro-grains was prepared by the annealing of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) processed ultrafine grained Cu at 473 K for 40 min. The bimodal Cu has an optimal strength-ductility combination (yield strength of 220 MPa and ductility of 34%), a larger shear fracture angle of 83° and a larger area reduction of 78% compared with the as-ECAPed UFG Cu (yield strength of 410 MPa, ductility of 16%, shear fracture angle of 70°, area reduction of 69%). Grain refinement of recrystallized micro-grains and detwinning of annealing growth twins were observed in the fractured bimodal Cu tensile specimen. The underlying deformation mechanisms for grain refinement and detwinning were analyzed and discussed.