Severe cryogenic deformation of copper

The method of automated analysis of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) patterns has been employed for the characterization of the structure of copper obtained using severe plastic deformation by shear under high pressure under cryogenic conditions. It has been established that severe cryogenic deformation leads to a considerable refinement of the structure to a grain size of 0.2 μm. Based on an analysis of the texture data and misorientation spectrum, it has been concluded that it is the 111<110> dislocation slip that was the main mechanism of plastic flow and that the contribution from twinning was very small. It has been shown that the evolution of the grain structure was mainly determined by elongation of initial grains in the direction of macroscopic shear and their subsequent fragmentation.