Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2011
A model is presented to explain the grain growth that is often observed during superplastic deformation. The atomic structure of grain boundaries leads to a coupling between boundary sliding and boundary migration. There is a similar coupling between the absorption or emission of vacancies from a boundary and boundary migration. Because of these couplings, the grain boundary sliding and diffusional flow of superplastic deformation produce extensive boundary migration. We propose that this forced migration leads to random changes in the sizes of grains, and that this evolution of the grain size distribution leads to grain growth.