Superplasticity

de Kuppuswamy Anantha Padmanabhan

This book examines the idea that under the right experimental conditions any material can be rendered superplastic and it raises the question whether such a near-universal phenomenon like superplasticity should also have the same physical basis. The book tries to combine the perspectives of materials science, on the one hand, and that of design and mechanics, on the other, because the authors believe that only a holistic view of materials, design, mechanics and performance can lead to useful solutions of societal benefits, in addition to providing great intellectual challenges. After considering the experimental evidence for superplasticity in different classes of materials, the authors discuss the physics- and phenomenology- based models, along with their advantages and limitations. Then, the analyses for superplastic forming available in the framework of continuum mechanics, finite element analysis and numerical simulations are presented. Finally, the book highlights some successful industrial applications.