Superplasticity in nanostructured materials: New challenges

The discoveries made in Prof. A.K. Mukherjee's laboratory in 1996–2001 have revealed that nanostructured metals and alloys can demonstrate extraordinary superplasticity at low temperatures and/or high strain rates. This work presents the new results on superplasticity in several nanostructured Al and Ti alloys focusing on microstructure evolution and strain hardening, as well as the challenges of their application. Grain refinement in these alloys was accomplished using severe plastic deformation techniques, and subsequent superplastic deformation allowed not only to produce their efficient forming, but also to improve the ultrafine-grained structure and to obtain enhanced mechanical properties of the produced articles. The results demonstrate the possibilities of new applications of superplastic forming using nanostructured materials.