Evolution of mechanical properties of ultrafine grained 1050 alloy annealing with electric current

•An unexpected annealing-induced strengthening phenomenon occurs at 90–210 °C.•The d. c. current can enhance the motion of dislocations at 90–150 °C, and thus shift the peak annealing temperature from 150 °C to 120 °C.•The d. c. current can promote the grain growth at 150–210 °C, and thus cause a lower yield stress.•The DC annealed sample has a lower uniform elongation at 90–120 °C.

The tensile properties and microstructures of 1050 aluminum alloy prepared by equal channel angular pressing at cryogenic temperature (cryoECAP) after electric current annealing at 90–210 °C for 3 h were investigated by tensile test, electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). An unexpected annealing-induced strengthening phenomenon occurs at 90–210 °C, due to a significant decrease in the density of mobile dislocations after annealing, and thus a higher yield stress is required to nucleate alternative dislocation sources during tensile test. The electric current can enhance the motion of dislocations, lead to a lower dislocation density at 90–150 °C, and thus shift the peak annealing temperature from 150 °C to 120 °C. Moreover, the electric current can promote the migration of grain boundaries at 150–210 °C, result in a larger grain size at 150 °C and 210 °C, and thus causes a lower yield stress. The sample annealed with electric current has a lower uniform elongation at 90–120 °C, and the deviation in the uniform elongation between samples annealed without and with electric current becomes smaller at 150–210 °C.