Microstructure and texture evolutions and mechanical properties in pure copper by equal-channel angular pressing

Pure copper (99.99%) rod is subjected to equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature through a die with 90° between the die channels. After one pressing, the mean grain size had a sharp decrease from the initial 36.71 μm to 13.23 μm and ideal components of simple shear textures were developed. Inhomogeneous microstructures are aligned with the shearing direction and the sub-boundary structure is elongated in the shear direction and a large amount of dislocation tangles are formed inside sub-grains. The {1 1 1}〈1 1 0〉 slip mode is found to be the main deformation mode during ECAP and mechanical properties were also examined by tensile tests at room temperature.