The initial yield surface of a superplastic material was investigated by using a combined loading of axial force and torque. The thin-walled tubular specimen made of Zn-22 wt.%Al alloy was used in the experimental part of this study. Tests were carried out at room temperature (293 K) and at elevated temperature (523 K). The experimental results show that the material tested did not deform superplastically at 293 K exhibiting a yield surface that can be described by the second invariant of stress deviator (by Mises` criterion). On the other hand, the material was found to deform superplastically at the higher temperature of 523 K with a yield surface more complex compared to that observed at 293 K. This difference may be attributed to the difference in major deformation mechanism at two applied temperatures; that is, the slip within the grains at 293 K and the grain boundary sliding at 523 K.
