Superplasticity

Some metals can sustain huge deformations, a phenomenon called superplasticity. Microscopically mass flow in the grain boundaries modifies the structure of micrograins.

With Dimitris Konstantinidis we investigated how the structure changes by considering the motion of the triple joints due to diffusive flow of matter and Ashby's switching mechanism. Stretching the system seen here gives the following . These results were published in Physica A Vol. 256, 499-513 (1998)