This paper describes the mechanical properties and microstructure of commercially pure titanium (Grade 2) processed with Conform severe plastic deformation (SPD) and rotary swaging techniques. This technology enables ultrafine-grained to nanocrystalline wires to be produced in a continuous process. A comprehensive description is given of those properties which should enable straightforward implementation of the material in medical applications. Conform SPD processing has led to a dramatic refinement of the initial microstructure, producing equiaxed grains already in the first pass. The mean grain size in the transverse direction was 320 nm. Further passes did not lead to any additional appreciable grain refinement. The subsequent rotary swaging caused fine grains to become elongated. A single Conform SPD pass and subsequent rotary swaging resulted in an ultimate strength of 1060 MPa and elongation of 12%. The achieved fatigue limit was 396 MPa. This paper describes the production possibilities of ultrafine to nanocrystalline wires made of pure titanium and points out the possibility of serial production, particularly in medical implants.

The present paper explores the effect of annealing on mechanical and structural properties of ultrafine-grained (UFG) Ti Grade 2 after it was mechanically worked in either CONFORM SPD or rotary swaging (RS) machine. The main objective of this study was to optimize the annealing schedule in order to achieve recovery in the severely deformed structure and at the same time retain the mechanical properties of the worked material. The temperatures of the recovery processes were determined by means of dilatometry. It was found that in an ultrafine-grained material the temperatures of the recovery processes are shifted towards lower values. Based on dilatometric analysis, annealing schedules were developed and mechanical and structural properties were evaluated.

The paper investigated the residual strain and stress distribution, microstructure, and macro-texture along the transverse direction of commercially pure titanium grade 2 samples prepared by the CONFORM ECAP technique. This method belongs to the severe plastic deformation methods; hence, it could be assumed that residual stress fields would be present in the work-pieces. Residual stresses cannot be directly measured; thus, neutron diffraction measurements, Electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD) investigations, and local X-ray macro-texture measurements were performed in different regions of the sample to determine the data for the residual stress calculation. The calculation was based on the modified Kröner model. Neutron diffraction strain scans and residual stress calculations revealed that symmetrical residual strain and stress gradients with compression character were present in the axial and hoop direction after one and two passes. Asymmetric distribution of the residual strains and stresses remained after the third pass of the CONFORM ECAP. EBSD investigations showed that after the first pass, significant grain refinement occurred; however, further passes did not cause any dramatic grain refinement. X-ray texture measurements revealed that local macro-texture was dependent on the number of passes of the CONFORM ECAP and on the investigated area in the samples.

Severe plastic deformation represented by three passes in Conform SPD and subsequent rotary swaging was applied on Ti grade 4. This process caused extreme strengthening of material, accompanied by reduction of ductility. Mechanical properties of such material were then tuned by a suitable heat treatment. Measurements of in situ electrical resistance, in situ XRD and hardness indicated the appropriate temperature to be 450 °C for the heat treatment required to obtain desired mechanical properties. The optimal duration of annealing was stated to be 3 h. As was verified by neutron diffraction, SEM and TEM microstructure observation, the material underwent recrystallization during this heat treatment. That was documented by changes of the grain shape and evaluation of crystallite size, as well as of the reduction of internal stresses. In annealed state, the yield stress and ultimate tensile stress decreased form 1205 to 871 MPa and 1224 to 950 MPa, respectively, while the ductility increased from 7.8% to 25.1%. This study also shows that mechanical properties of Ti grade 4 processed by continual industrially applicable process (Conform SPD) are comparable with those obtained by ECAP.

Mechanical properties and microstructure of EN AW 6082 were investigated. The aluminium alloy was processed by combining the solution annealing, plastic deformation and artificial age hardening, respectively. The initial state of the investigated material was provided in the form of extruded rods with the diameter of 12 mm. For the solution annealing the temperature 530 °C was chosen. The plastic deformation was realized by rotary swaging at ambient temperature and the investigated material was rotary swaged from 12 to 10 mm in diameter. The effect of the age hardening temperature and time was studied at temperatures of 120 and 160 °C and times 1 - 12 hours. The impact of processing parameters on mechanical properties was assessed by tensile testing and hardness measurement. Metallographic examination was carried out by light optical microscopy (LOM) and scanning electron microscopy using electron backscatter diffraction (SEM-EBSD).