Transmission electron microscopy studies on the effect of strain on Al and Al–1% Sc alloy

The strain-hardening behavior of Al–1 wt.% Sc alloy was studied and compared with that of Al. Al showed a linear hardening, whereas the Al–1 wt.% Sc alloy showed two-stage behavior for the same equivalent true strain up to 2.0. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that dislocation pile-up and dynamic recovery control the hardening behavior in Al, whereas the effective pinning by fine Al3Sc precipitates and dynamic recrystallization at large strain are responsible for the two-stage behavior in Al–1 wt.% Sc alloy.