Dislocation structures and crystal orientations of copper single crystals deformed by equal-channel angular pressing

Copper single crystal billets were subjected to simple shear deformation by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) for one pass in order to investigate the dislocation structures and crystal orientations from a crystallographic aspect. Evolution of crystal orientations and the dislocation structures during ECAP were characterized and rationalized by slip pattern analysis. The results were compared with other deformation modes such as cold rolling and torsion reported in the literature, and the formation of dislocation boundaries can be mostly understood based on the degree of concentration of activated slip systems with respect to the macroscopic shear plane. The relations between the slip pattern and evolution of dislocation boundaries can be applied to the effect of strain path, e.g., processing route and the channel angle on the development of dislocation structures and grain fragmentation.