Continuous Severe Plastic Deformation of Low-Carbon Steel: Physical-Mechanical Properties and Multiscale Structure Analysis

A successful attempt to incorporate the advantages of severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods in the continuous drawing process for low-carbon steel is demonstrated. The structural features are considered on different scale levels, using a wide range of methods. While combining shear deformation, which parallels the basis of SPD with the conventional scheme, the cyclic process of grain refinement could be reached. As a result, the plasticity becomes enhanced. At the same time, an important characteristic such as residual stress also has a positive influence on manufacturability; particularly, the existence of the compression stress after shear deformation. The peculiarity of the structure affects the behavior of both mechanical and physical properties (like density, plasticity). The application of drawing with shear (DSh) technology as based on SPD principles, the mechanical softening effect is observed, as is the healing of microvoids. Such positive affection gives the opportunity to increase the effectiveness of drawing technology through controlling plasticity (ductility). In addition, it is considered exhaustion of the plasticity resource (EPR). It is shown that in the case of multipass deformation, there is a parabolic dependence of the EPR measurement, and minimum damage is achieved using a specific combination of partial reductions.