Effect of microstructure on plastic deformation of Cu at low homologous temperatures

The mechanical properties of polycrystalline Cu (purity 99.95%) prepared by severe plastic deformation were studied at low homologous temperatures from 0.5 K to room temperature. Material with three different microstructures was prepared by annealing of ultrafine-grained Cu. At cryogenic temperatures (0.5 and 4.2 K) the material exhibited an inverse temperature dependence of the yield stress and unstable plastic deformation accompanied by serrations on the stress–strain curves. These low-temperature anomalies were accentuated with grain refinement. At cryogenic temperatures, enhanced ductility was observed and the Hall–Petch relation was found to hold. Microhardness and yield stress were much more temperature dependent in fine-grained than in coarse-grained material, and there is a correlation between the flow stress at a fixed strain and the microhardness. This study has demonstrated that, apart from enhanced discontinuous plastic flow, severe plastic deformation improves the strength of copper at cryogenic temperatures without sacrificing ductility.