On the measurements of superplasticity in an Al-Cu alloy

Abstract

The usual method of measuring the strain rate sensitive ‘m’ values of superplastic materials through differential cross-head speed is found to result in improperly definedm values;m is found to depend strongly on the strain to which the material is subjected, especially at low strains. In this connection, the shape of the log stress-log strain rate curve is examined for the Al-33 wt pct Cu eutectic alloy. The inherent grain growth of the very fine grains which occurs during deformation, and the strain dependence ofm at low strains, are shown to be the causes of the familiarS shape of the log stress-log strain rate curves for the Al-Cu alloy. At high strains (15 to 20 pct and higher) where the stress is no longer importantly strain sensitive, the log stress-log strain rate curve is a straight line of slope near 0.5. The elongation at fracture also does not go through a maximum but continues to increase slowly to the lowest strain rate examined: 10^-7 per s.