In situ composites processed by simple shear

A new deformation method for the fabrication of in situ composites is described. It is found that intensive simple shear, performed repeatedly in the same direction, transforms ductile second phase particles into aligned filaments. Processing is performed by multi-step equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE). Results of experiments on Cu-18Nb and Cu-25Ag alloys demonstrate the ability of this method to fabricate filamentary composites from cast bulk products with no change in the work piece cross-section.