Prof. K.A. Padmanabhan is an Indian academician currently working as the Member (Physical Sciences), Research and Innovation Advisory Board & Advisor, TCS, and Aditya Birla S&T Company. He is a former Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur India.

1. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Structural Superplasticity

1.2 Environmental Superplasticity

1.3 Materials in which superplasticity has been established

1.4 Industrial Relevance

2. MECHANICS OF SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION AND ASSESSMENT OF SUPERPLASTIC PERFORMANCE

2.1 Tensile and Compression Tests

2.2 Torsion and Others Tests

2.3 Constitutive Equations of Superplastics Flow

2.3.1 "Transient" and "steady state" flow

2.3.2 Strain-rate sensitivity and its effects

2.3.3 Equations of state for bi- axial loading

2.3.4 Equations of state for tri- axial loading

3. STRUCTURAL SUPERPLASTICITY INDIFFERENT CLASSES OF MATERIALS

3.1 Micro-grained Metals and Alloys

3.1.1 Mechanical Response

3.1.2 Microstructural Studies

a) Qualitative metallographic studies

b) Quantitative metallography

c) Cavitation and fracture behaviour

3.2 Intermetallics and Ceramic Materials

3.2.1 Mechanical properties

3.1.2 Micostructural characteristics

3.3 Dispersions-containing Metals, Metal-Matrix and Ceramic- Matrix Composites and High Strain-rate Superplasticity

3.3.1 Mechanical response

3.3.2 Microstructural studies

3.4 Severe Plastic Deformed and Nanostructured Materials

3.4.1 Mechanical response

3.4.2 Microstructural studies

3.5 Geological Materials

3.5.2 Microstructural studies

3.6 Superplastic Flow in Different Classes of Materials: Similarities and Differences- An Assessment

4. ENVIRONMENTAL SUPERPLASTICITY

4.1 Experimental Studies

4.1.1 Macroscopic response

b) Temperature cycling of anisotropic materials and neutron irradiation

4.1.2 Metallographic observations

4.1.3 Cavitation and fracture

5. THEORIES OF SUPERPLASTICITY

5.1Structural Superplasticity

5.1.1 Rheological and phenomenological analyses

5.1.2 Atomistic models for strain-rate controlling flow

a) Diffusion rate control

b) Dislocation process rate control

c) Grain boundary sliding rate control

d) Multi-mechanisms

5.2 Environmental superplasticity

5.2.1Phenomenological approaches

5.2.2 Mechanistic models

6. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF SUPERPLASTICITY

6.1 Forming Operations

6.1.1 Forging and stamping

6.1.2 Extrusion

6.1.3 Processes involving the use of tensile forces

6.1.4 Powder metallurgical process

6.1.5 Hydraulic bulging

6.1.6 Sheet- thermoforming

6.1.7 Blow moulding

6.1.8 Deep drawing

6.1.9 Punch stretching

6.1.10 Superplastic forming-diffusion bonding

6.1.11 Hybrid processes

6.2 Theoretical Analyses of Superplastic Forming Processes

6.2.1 Analyses for bulk forming processes

6.2.2 Analyses for sheet forming forces

6.2.3 Regression, numerical, finite difference and finite element analyses

6.3 Industrial Applications

6.3.1 Superplastic alloy development and its exploitation in industry

6.3.2 Design and tooling (including the introduction of novel features)

6.3.3 Some examples of industrial components that exploit the unique characteristics of superplastic flow

APPENDIX

REFERENCES