Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question describes the fundamental principle behind a large class of manufacturing processes known as metal forming. These processes change the shape of a workpiece without adding or removing material.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's analyze the description:
• "...mass of metal are conserved...": This means it is not a machining (material removal) or casting/welding (material addition) process.
• "...volume ... is conserved...": This is a key characteristic of plastic flow in metals. Unlike elastic deformation where volume can change slightly, during plastic deformation, the material is considered incompressible (Poisson's ratio \(\nu \approx 0.5\)).
• "...metal is displaced from one location to another.": This describes the shape change, such as in processes like forging (squeezing metal into a die), rolling (reducing thickness between rolls), or extrusion (pushing metal through a die).
Now let's look at the options:
• (A) Elastic deformation: This is temporary. When the load is removed, the material returns to its original shape, so there is no permanent displacement.
• (B) Plastic deformation: This is permanent deformation. It is the underlying mechanism for all metal forming processes. The description perfectly matches the characteristics of processes based on plastic deformation.
• (C) Elasto-plastic deformation: This describes the full range of behavior where a material first deforms elastically and then plastically. While forming processes involve this, the permanent shape change (displacement of material) is due to the plastic component. Therefore, "plastic deformation" is the more fundamental and correct answer describing the process principle.
• (D) Heat Treatment: This process changes the microstructure and properties of a material using controlled heating and cooling, but it does not involve any mechanical shape change or large-scale displacement of metal.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The processes described, which involve shape change with constant volume and mass, are based on the principle of plastic deformation.