Simultaneous improvement in strength and ductility of severely deformed niobium alloy

Abstract

The present study is on the improved monotonic response of a severely deformed niobium-based alloy. Nb-1Zr alloy was processed at room temperature using equal channel angular extrusion and cold rolling. After 16 passes, a more than 2.5 times increase in yield strength is accompanied by a ductility level exceeding the as-received state. Cold rolling of the processed billets resulted in tensile strengths exceeding 1 GPa. The enhancement in both strength and ductility is explained by the microstructural evolution and the low homologous processing temperature.