Mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of AA1100 aluminum sheet processed by Accumulative Press Bonding Process

Sever plastic deformation process in one of the important methods to produce nanostructures materials that is highly regarded in two past decades. Accumulative press bonding (APB) is a novel variant of severe plastic deformation processes (SPD), which is devised to produce materials with ultra-fine grain (UFG). In the present work, effect of APB technique on mechanical properties and microstructural of AA1100 alloy, were investigated. The study of the microstructure of AA1100 alloy was performed via optical microscopy. This article revealed that the grain size of the produced samples decreased to 950 nm, after six passes of APB process. The yield strength of AA1100 alloy after six passes of the process increased up to 264 MPa, which is three times higher than that of the as-cast material (89 MPa). After six passes, microhardness values of AA1100 alloy increased from 38 to 61 HV. Furthermore, the results showed that the behavior of variations in mechanical properties are in accordance with the microstructural changes and it can be justified by using the Hall-Patch equation. Moreover, the rise in the yield strength can be attributed to the reduction of the grain size and strain hardening phenomenon.