Conclusions
In the present work, an attempt was made to study the effect of strain reversal (CW-CCW) deformation on the microstructure and hardness properties of Al-2.5%Mg alloy. It was found that in Al-2.5%Mg, the evolution of the ultrafine structure follows the similar trend in microstructure analysis when deformed through two deformation techniques, with the exception during high strains where the fraction of HAGBs was found strikingly less as compared to its counterpart during strain reversal deformation. Hardness homogeneity was not observed for Al-2.5%Mg where the hardness at the centre regions was observed to be lesser than the edge regions with exceptionally less hardness at centre for strain reversal specimens at higher strains. The phenomenon behind low HAGBs in strain reversal deformation is predicted to be due to back stress due to strain reversal, which ultimately hinders the formation of dislocations formed by F-R source of dislocation