ECAP
ECAP, or Equal Channel Angular Pressing, is a severe plastic deformation technique used to produce bulk metallic materials with ultrafine or nanocrystalline grains. The method enables large strains to be imposed on a billet while preserving its cross-sectional area, which simplifies post-processing and handling compared with other deformation methods.
In the process, a billet is forced to flow through a die that consists of two channels
ECAP can be performed at room temperature (cold ECAP) or at elevated temperatures (hot or warm ECAP)
Limitations include non-uniform property distribution along the billet, tooling wear from the die channels, frictional heating,