Effect of equal channel angular extrusion on the microstructure and superplasticity of an Al-Li alloy

This research investigates the use of equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) processing to produce a superplastic form of the aluminum alloy 2098. The starting material was a hot-rolled and precipitation-hardened plate with elongated grains of width 67–92 μm, and a composition in weight percent of 2.2% Li, 1.3% Cu, 0.73% Mg, 0.05% Zr, balance Al. Microstructural evolution was investigated with optical and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microhardness measurements after each step of a multipass ECAE process. ECAE produced a submicron grain structure with an average size of about 0.5 μm. The sub-grain microstructure size was a function of the magnitude of the input strain and the extrusion temperature. Misorientation angles of the developed submicron structure increase with increasing number of passes at warm working temperatures. Superplastic behavior of the ECAE-processed alloy was achieved. However, the low zirconium content of the 2098 alloy resulted in grain growth of the refined structure at the superplastic processing temperatures, placing a lower limit on the deformation rates that can be used.