The paper presents the experimental results of positron annihilation measurements of the subsurface zones in aluminum and aluminum alloy exposed to the indentation of the small steel ball or blasting by the silicon carbide particles. The measurements of the Doppler broadening of the annihilation line and positron lifetime (PL) enabled the depth profile of open volume defects induced by indentation and blasting processes to be obtained. The coincidence of the von Mises criterion for yield with the onset of the increase of the defect concentration at certain depth was detected. It was established that the defects created in the pure aluminum and the aluminum alloy detected by positrons are different. However, the kinds of induced defects do not change with depth. The PL measurements indicate the presence of vacancy clusters in samples exposed to blasting. The vacancy clusters created in the aluminum alloy are larger than in the pure aluminum. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.