Equal Channel Angular Pressing and Characterization of a Patented Eutectoid Fe-C Steel

Equal Channel Angular (ECAP) pressing has been showed as an attractive route to produce fine and ultrafine-grained metals and alloys with high strength and fracture toughness. ECAP is a simple process for applying severe plastic deformation (SPD) to metals that can be done with common laboratory equipments (mechanical tests machines) and an adequate die. In the present work, an eutectoid steel was processed by ECAP in a 120° die. Mechanical behavior of samples deformed by ECAP was compared to the same material processed by rolling. The hardness level obtained after a single pass of ECAP was comparable to an 84% reduction by rolling in a single pass. The hardness level obtained after 1 ECAP pass on a patented steel was higher than 4 ECAP passes on the same steel without patenting. The metallographic analysis showed intense alterations on the microstructure by the ECAP processing.