Abstract: The distributions of plastic strain near grain boundaries induced by fatigue loading were investigated by the fiducial grid method in pure aluminum specimens, and the resulted grain boundary sliding (GBS) was systematically analysed. The results show that the strain field near a grain boundary is nonuniform. GBS is restricted by the junction of grain boundaries and causes discontinuities of both displacement and strain. A peak value of shear strain was created in short-range area across the grain boundary. GBS plays an important role in cyclic softening and secondary hardening. The control fac- tor of GBS is the relative orientation between two grains and the macro orientation of the grain boundary rather than the ∑ value of the boundary.

Key words: grain boundary sliding, fiducial grid, fatigue, aluminium