Nowadays, there is a great demand for increasing the strength and corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys for their wider use in machine engineering, oil industry, and medicine. This paper is devoted to a study on the effects of the combined process of reduction and equal channel angular pressing, as well as the subsequent ultrasonic irradiation on the structure, strength, and corrosion properties of the Mg-Al-Zn alloy. Deformation processing results in an increase of the strength up to 280 ± 10 MPa. A fine-grained structure is formed with a grain size of 10–20 µm and small recrystallized grains 1–2 µm in size. The corrosion resistance in the HCl medium falls down significantly. Action of ultrasound on the deformed specimen leads to an increased fraction of high-angle boundaries, in particular, the fractions of special, fully overlapping Σ13a boundaries and twin boundaries of Σ15b and Σ17a systems. Due to the ultrasonic treatment, the strength of the Mg-Al-Zn alloy increases up to 310 ± 5 MPa, while the corrosion resistance in HCl almost doubles.

This overview examines the results of a study of the effect of slippage in high-pressure torsion (HPT). A number of papers in this area and the works of the authors of this overview are considered. The authors used the method of the “joint HPT of the disk halves”. This method is the simplest and most illustrative method for evaluating slippage during HPT. The authors used 10 and 20 mm diameter anvils, with a groove on the lower anvil and a calculated pressure of 6 GPa. In the case of the HPT of solid bulk metal glass (BMG), slippage starts at the early stages of HPT and is total. Slippage may also be significant at the early stages of the HPT of such metallic materials as Ti, Ni, Fe-0.1%C, and Zr-2.5%Nb. Slippage increases with the number of revolutions, n. There is no slippage at the initial stages of the HPT of copper. However, after HPT Cu n = 10, slippage can be total. Nevertheless, studies show that the structure of samples using HPT, obtained by the authors, is similar to the nanostructure observed by other authors after using HPT with similar materials. Thus, notwithstanding slippage during HPT, deformation during HPT still occurs, and nanostructure formation occurs. Therefore, the formation of a nanostructure in samples during HPT is not proof of the absence of slippage. The authors provide a possible explanation for this. The authors propose a new method—“accumulative high-pressure torsion”—to achieve a high strain in various materials. In this procedure, several cycles are repeated, according to the following scheme: “HPT for n = 1 or 2 turns of the anvil → cutting the specimen into pieces → unstacking the stacked pieces on the anvil and subsequent HPT for n = 1 or 2”. Studies performed on a number of materials demonstrate that novel method transforms the structure more efficiently than regular HPT.

The quantitative concentration of alloying elements in low-alloyed copper alloys is an important factor in forming electrical and mechanical characteristics. It is known that severe plastic deformation is accompanied by both a substantial refinement of the structure and changes in the kinetics of phase transformations during the deformation and the post-deformation thermal treatment. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of the Cu–0.2Cr and Cu–1.1Cr alloys subjected to equal-channel angular pressing at room temperature. The analysis was performed for the grain structure, solid solution, and second-phase particles using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray crystal analysis, and the small-angle diffraction method. It was found that the level of structure refinement and mechanical characteristics after equal-channel angular pressing was almost the same for both studied alloys. Post-deformation aging of the Cu–0.2Cr alloy leads to the development of polygonization and re-crystallization within it. The aging of the Cu–1.1Cr alloy shows a better thermal stability than that of the Cu–0.2Cr alloy. In the Cu–1.1Cr alloy, after aging, in comparison with Cu–0.2Cr, a denser-packed ensemble of fine particles with an average size of 54 ± 2 nm is formed. In this case, the average size of fragments is 270 ± 15 nm and the ultimate tensile strength reaches 485 MPa.

This work considers the development and the application of combined severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques to produce contact wire with an enhanced complex of physical, mechanical, and service properties used for high-speed railway lines. This type of processing can be used as an alternative to most conventional production methods, including rolling and drawing. The proposed technique is based on the combination of radial swaging and equal-channel angular pressing, bundled with the wire-forming process. Laboratory contact wire samples with an enhanced complex of physical, mechanical, and service properties were produced during physical experiments. The composition of processed alloy samples meets modern requirements for contact wires for high-speed railways. Ultimate tensile strength of 560 ± 20 MPa, electrical conductivity of 76 ± 2% IACS, and relative tensile elongation of 20 ± 2% are achieved through the formation of a band structure. Fragments of 300 ± 20 nm were formed inside strips with the precipitation of secondary phase particles of 20–100 nm along the fragment boundaries, mainly during the aging process.

The authors analyze the effect of the accumulated strain during severe plastic deformation as well as the temperature and aging time on the physico-mechanical properties of low-alloyed chromium-zirconium bronze Cu-1Cr-0.08Zr. The following SPD processing techniques were employed in the work: high-pressure torsion (HPT) and equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). As a result of the investigation there have been revealed the most reasonable regimes of thermomechanical treatment, leading to the maximum increment in mechanical properties, while preserving a high level of electrical conductivity.

The effect of slippage during High Pressure Torsion (HPT) of technically pure Ti and pure Cu samples was investigated. The “joint torsion of the disk halves” method was used to evaluate the effect of slippage. It was shown that slippage starts already at the early stages of HPT. With a further increase in the number of revolutions n, the slippage effect increases, and no torsional deformation occurs after n = 5. The slippage effect is explained by analyzing the surface friction forces between the sample and the anvil. However, studies via TEM and XRD have shown that the structure of Ti samples after HPT at the investigated conditions is grinded to a nanocrystalline state. A structure is formed in Ti similar to that observed after HPT by other authors. The dislocation density increases with increasing HPT degree from n = 5 to n = 10 revolutions, despite slippage. Consequently, despite slippage at HPT at n ≥ 5, deformation still occurs. The following assumptions are made to explain the accumulated strain in the sample at HPT. It is assumed that the planes of the upper and lower anvil during HPT are at a slight inclination relative to each other. Computer modeling using the Deform 3D software package has shown that this leads to the accumulations of significant strain during HPT.