Hardening of pure metals by high-pressure torsion: A physically based model employing volume-averaged defect evolutions

A physically based model to predict the increment of hardness and grain refinement of pure metals due to severe plastic deformation by high-pressure torsion (HPT) is proposed. The model incorporates volume-averaged thermally activated dislocation annihilation and grain boundary formation. Strengthening is caused by dislocations in the grain and by grain boundaries. The model is tested against a database containing all available reliable data on HPT-processed pure metals. It is shown that the model accurately predicts hardening and grain size of the pure metals, irrespective of crystal structure (face-centred cubic, body-centred cubic and hexagonal close packed). Measured dislocation densities also show good correlation with predictions. The influence of stacking fault energy on hardening is very weak (of the order of −0.03 GPa per 100 J mol−1).