Achieving ultrafine grained and homogeneous AA1050/ZnO nanocomposite with well-developed high angle grain boundaries through accumulative press bonding

Aluminum matrix nanocomposites with 2 vol% ZnO nanoparticles were produced using accumulative press bonding (APB) as a very effective and novel severe plastic deformation process. Microstructural evaluation and mechanical properties of specimens were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and tensile test. Microstructure of AA1050/ZnO nanocomposite showed a uniform distribution of ZnO nanoparticles throughout the aluminum matrix. STEM and EBSD observations revealed that ultrafine-grained Al/ZnO nanocomposite with the average grain size of <500 nm and well-developed high angle grain boundaries (80% high angle boundaries and 37° average misorientation angle) was successfully obtained by performing 14 cycles of the APB process. When the number of APB cycles increased the tensile strength of Al/ZnO nanocomposite improved and reached 228 MPa after 14 cycles, which was 2.6 and 1.3 times greater than the obtained values for annealed (raw material, 88 MPa) and monolithic aluminum (180 MPa), respectively.