The problem of the real existence of the electroplastic effect during deformation of metallic materials of different nature is still relevant. At the same time, the influence of structure refinement is not considered enough. In this work, the deformation behavior of ultrafine-grained (UFG) titanium Grade 4 is compared with that of coarse-grained (CG) titanium under tension with pulse current of the low duty cycle. The deformation curves of both structure states are presented for different regimes of pulsed current and thermal heating from an external source. Structure studies by optical and scanning electron microscopy, as well as microhardness measurements have been carried out. It is shown that Grade 4 titanium under tension accompanied by pulsed current exhibits electroplastic effect (EPE) in the form of a flow stress reduction. EPE in UFG state is much stronger than in CG state. An increase in the density and duration of the current pulse leads to a multiple decrease in the flow stresses in CG and UFG titanium. The contribution in the flow stress reduction from heating by an external source was less than that from tension with pulse current at the same temperatures. The impact of pulsed current during tension does not influence microhardness and grain size.

The deformation behavior of duplex stainless steel under tension and bending, accompanied by a pulsed current and when heated by an external source, is investigated. The stress–strain curves are compared at the same temperatures. The contribution to the decrease in flow stresses is greater when using a multi-pulse current at the same temperature, compared to external heating. This confirms the presence of an electroplastic effect. An increase in the strain rate by an order of magnitude reduces the contribution of the electroplastic effect from single pulses to the reduction in flow stresses by 20%. An increase in the strain rate by an order of magnitude reduces the contribution of the electroplastic effect from single pulses to the reduction in flow stresses by 20%. However, in the case of a multi-pulse current, the strain rate effect is not observed. Introducing a multi-pulse current during bending reduces the bending strength by a factor of two and the springback angle to 6.5.

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The electroplastic effect (EPE) is a phenomenon which consists in a decrease in the strain resistance and enhancing of the plasticity of metals under the effect of the electric current of a sufficiently high density [1].   The goal of the study is to compare the deformation behavior of single-phase commercially pure tita­nium Grade 4 and two-phase VT6 alloy under tension and external heating with introduction of a pulsed current.   Current of various pulse ratio and density was supplied to the grips of the tensile testing machine from a pulse generator. To estimate the relative contribution of the electroplastic effect during passage of current to the reduction of flow stresses, the materials were also exposed to external heating. The microstructure of the samples in the sample head and in the vicinity of the fracture region in the longitu­dinal section was studied using optical microscopy. The electroplastic effect in the studied materials is manifested on the tensile curve through individual jumps in the downward flow stress at a high pulse ra­tio, whereas at a low current pulse ratio a decrease in the flow stress and strain hardening and increase in the plasticity are observed. It is shown that tension of the sample under the effect of current results in a greater decrease in the flow stresses than that observed under external heating at the same temperature for both materials. This confirms the athermal nature of the pulsed current effect. The critical density of the high pulse ratio current (q - 5000) capable of providing manifestation of the electroplastic effect is two times lower for a VT6 alloy than for pure titanium Grade 4. Under the same pulsed current modes, the flow stresses for VT6 decrease more than for Grade 4. Pulsed current of high pulse ratio caused an anomalous hardening effect in a VT6 alloy, but the physical nature of this effect requires an additional study. The pulsed current modes used in the study did not lead to any structural changes noticeable under optical magnification in the samples under tension, except for the disappearance of twins and separation of the impurity particles in Grade 4 and spheroidization of grains in VT6.