PLASTIC DEFORMATION

 Modes of Deformation
 The Uniaxial Tension Test
 Mechanisms underlying Plastic Deformation
 Strengthening mechanisms
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Part of & A Learner’s Guide
ENGINEERING
AN INTRODUCTORY E-BOOK
Anandh Subramaniam & Kantesh Balani
Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
Yield Criteria Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur- 208016
Email: anandh@iitk.ac.in, URL: home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh/E-book.htm

Mechanical Metallurgy
George E Dieter
McGraw-Hill Book Company, London (1988)
Let us start with some observations… Revise: the mechanisms by which materials fail

 An Al rod when bent through a large angle does not come back to its original shape.
 Steel is more difficult to deform as compared to Al.
 A steel piece is easier to deform when heated (as compared to when it is cold).
 ‘Chinese’ Clay when deformed does not regain its original shape.
 ‘Silly putty’ deforms like Chinese clay when slowly deformed. However, when one bounces
a ball of silly putty it bounces like a rubber ball.

Important points to be kept in mind

 There is no volume change during plastic deformation (by slip/twinning).
 Shear stresses lead to plastic deformation in metallic materials  Pure hydrostatic stresses
cannot cause plastic deformation (metals). Click here to know more
 Shear stresses can arise due to : (i) shear loading, (ii) geometry of loading, (iii) orientation
of planes within the material. Crystals unlike glasses can have planes which are weak in
shear or tension (which can lead to failure; these are like the “weakest link in the chain”).
 Fracture strain is strongly influenced by hydrostatic stresses.
 Plastic deformation by slip (motion of dislocations leaving the crystal/grain) involves shear
stresses at the level of the slip plane (i.e. even if we apply tensile forces, certain planes may
feel shear stresses, which can lead to slip).
 Amorphous materials can deform by ‘flow’ (e.g. glass blowing of heated glass), etc. →
these are not the focus of the current chapter.
 Plastic deformation in the broadest sense means permanent deformation in the absence of
external constraints (forces, displacements)
(i.e. after the removal of external loads and constraints which caused the deformation).

 Plastic deformation of crystalline materials takes place by mechanisms which are very
different from that for amorphous materials (glasses). The current chapter will focus on plastic
deformation of crystalline materials. Glasses deform by shear banding etc. below the glass transition temperature (T g)
and by ‘flow’ above Tg.
 Though plasticity by slip is the most important mechanism of plastic deformation, there are
other mechanisms as well. Many of these mechanisms may act in conjunction/parallel to give
rise to the observed plastic deformation. Twinning is perhaps the second most important one.
Phenomenological terms

Plastic Deformation in Crystalline Materials

Slip Twinning Phase Transformation Creep Mechanisms

(Dislocation
motion) Grain boundary sliding
+ Other Mechanisms
Vacancy diffusion
Grain rotation
Dislocation climb
Note: Plastic deformation in amorphous materials occur by other mechanisms including flow (~viscous fluid) and shear
banding
 Tension / Compression
Review Common types of deformation
Modes Bending
A body can be deformed using many modes: of
Deformation Shear
 Tension/Compression
 Bending Torsion

 Shear
 Torsion
It is important to note that these are macroscopically defined with respect to a body of given geometry (even in tensile loading inclined
planes will be subjected to shear stress)

Bending

Deformed configuration

Torsion / Twisting Moment

Shear
Tension Compression

Note: modes of deformation in other contexts will be defined in the topic on plasticity
Peak ahead
 In addition to the modes of deformation considered before the following modes can be
defined w.r.t fracture.
 Fracture can be cause by the propagation of a pre-existing crack (e.g. the notches shown in
the figures below) or by the nucleation of a crack during deformation followed by its
propagation.
 In fracture the elastic energy stored in the material is used for the creation of new surfaces
(when the crack nucleates/propagates).

This is ‘opening’ mode

Mode I
Modes This is ‘shearing’ mode

of Mode II
Deformation

Mode III
This is ‘tearing’ mode
Path to understanding plasticity
 The following aspects need to be understood to comprehend plasticity*:
 External process parameters (Temperature, strain rate, etc.)
 Macroscopic and Microscopic aspects of plasticity
 Continuum and Discrete views of plasticity
 Plasticity in single crystals
 Plasticity in polycrystals
 Plasticity in multiphase materials
 Plasticity in nanomaterials

* Some of these aspects will be covered in the current chapter

The Uniaxial Tension Test (UTT)
 One of the simplest test* which can performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of a
material is the Uniaxial Tension Test. The force/load applied is uniaxial.
 This is typically performed on a cylindrical specimen with a standard ‘gauge length’. (At
constant temperature and strain rate). Other types of specimens are also used. Usually the specimen is polycrystalline.
 The test involves pulling a material with increasing load (force) and noting the elongation
(displacement) of the specimen. In practice the cross-head velocity is kept constant (i.e. displacement is controlled).
 Data acquired from such a test can be plotted as: (i) load-stroke (raw data), (ii) engineering
stress- engineering strain, (iii) true stress- true strain. (next slide).
 It is convenient to use Engineering Stress (s) and Engineering Strain (e) as defined below 
as we can divide the load and change in length by constant quantities (A0 and L0). Subscripts
‘0’ refer to initial values and ‘i’ to instantaneous values.
 But there are problems with the use of ‘s’ and ‘e’ (as outlined in the coming slides) and hence
we define True Stress () and True Strain () (wherein we use instantaneous values of length
and area).
 Though this is simple test to conduct, a wealth of information about the mechanical
behaviour of a material can be obtained (Modulus of elasticity, ductility etc.)  However, it
must be cautioned that this data should be used with caution under other states of stress.

P L 0 → initial
s e Subscript Note: quantities obtained by performing an
A0 L0 i → instantaneous Uniaxial Tension Test are valid only under
uniaxial state of stress
* Though the hardness test is even simpler, the data is convoluted with various effects.
The Tensile Stress-Strain Curve
 The results of a uniaxial tension test can be plotted as in the

Load →
figures to the right.
 It is important to note that we prefer stress-strain and not load-
stroke as the axes.

Stroke →
Tensile specimen

Click here to know

why we use stress
Possible axes and strain and not
just load and

s →
elongation
Gauge Length → L0

Note that L0 is NOT the length of the e →

specimen, but the gauge length

 →
Initial cross sectional area → A0

Important Note
We shall assume cylindrical polycrystalline specimens (unless otherwise stated)  →
The experimental setup for the uniaxial tension test
Grip

Cross-head

Sample
Zoomed-in view

N
Zoomed-in view
Sample after the formation of a neck

Replot of the load-stroke curve as

stress versus strain

The grip should be such that the uniaxial loading is maintained (i.e. there is no shear/bending component to the loading)
Problem with engineering Stress (s) and Strain (e)!!
Consider the following sequence of deformations:

1 L0

e1→2 = 1

e1→3 = 0 2 2L0 [e1→2 + e2→3] = ½

e2→3 =  ½
3 L0

It is clear that from stage 1 → 3 there is no strain.

But the decomposition of the process into 1 → 2 & 2 → 3 gives a net strain of ½.
► Clearly there is a problem with the use (definition) of Engineering strain (for large strains
as in the example above).
► Hence, a quantity known as ‘True Strain’ is preferred (along with True Stress)
 as defined in the next slide.
True Stress () and Strain ()
 The definitions of true stress and true strain are based on instantaneous values of area (Ai)
and length (Li) and not on the original measures (as for engineering stress and strain).
P L
dL L P L
   ln s e  Ai → instantaneous area
Ai L
L L0 A0 L0
0

Same sequence of deformations considered before:

1 L0

 1→2 = Ln(2)

1→3 = 0 2 2L0 [ 1→2 +  2→3] = 0

 2→3 =  Ln(2)
3 L0

With true strain things turn out the way they should!
 True strains are additive, engineering strains are not.
 Schematic s-e and - curves Schematics: not to scale  These are simplified schematics which are close to the
Polycrystalline Specimen (e.g. Al) curves obtained for some metallic materials like Al, Cu
etc. (polycrystalline materials at room temperature).
 Many materials (e.g. steel) may have curves which are
qualitatively very different from these schematics.
 Most ceramics are brittle with very little plastic
deformation.
 These diagrams are not to scale as the strain at yield is
~0.001 (eelastic ~10–3)
[E is measured in GPa and y in MPa  thus giving
this small strains]
 the linear portion is practically vertical and stuck to
the Y-axis (when efracture and eelastic are drawn to the
same scale).
Linear elastic material (obeys Hook’s law) Note the increasing stress required for
continued plastic deformation
(the stress to cause continued plastic
deformation is called flow stress)

UTS- Ultimate Tensile Strength

Subscripts: Neck
y- yield
F, f- fracture
u- uniform (for strain)/ultimate (for stress)

Points and regions of the curves are explained in the next slide
* It is better to determine the Young’s modulus from sound propagation experiments,
than from UTT experiments.
Sequence of events during the tension test
 O  unloaded specimen
 OY  Elastic  Linear Region in the plot (macroscopic linear elastic region)
 Y  macroscopic yield point (there are many measures of yielding as discussed later)
Occurs due to collective motion of many dislocations finally leaving the grain boundary or crystal surface.
The stress at this point is called yield strength. [i.e. stress  strength]
 YF  Elastic + Plastic regime
 If specimen is unloaded from any point in this region, it will unload parallel to OY and the elastic
strain would be recovered. Actually, more strain will be recovered than unloading from Y (and
hence in some sense in the region YF the sample is ‘more elastic’ than in the elastic region OY).
 In this region the material strain hardens  flow stress increases with strain.
 This region can further be split into YN and NF as below.
 YN  Stable region with uniform deformation along the gauge length
 N  Plastic Instability in tension  Onset of necking
True condition of uniaxiality broken  onset of triaxial state of stress (loading remains uniaxial
but the state of stress in the cylindrical specimen is not).
 NF  most of the deformation is localized at the neck
 Specimen in a triaxial state of stress
 F  Fracture of specimen (many polycrystalline materials like Al show cup and cone fracture)

Notes:
 In the - plot there is no distinct point N and there is no drop in load (as instantaneous area has been taken into account in the definition of ) in the elastic
+ plastic regime (YF).
 The stress is monotonically increasing in the region YF  true indicator of strain hardening.
Information which can be obtained from a uniaxial tension test
(i) Young’s modulus*→ slope of the OY (elastic part of the curve).
(ii) Yield stress (or proof stress)→ stress corresponding to point Y.
(iii) Ultimate Tensile Stress (UTS) → point N (maximum) in s-e plot.
(iv) Fracture stress→ stress corresponding to point F.
(v) Ductility→ measured as: (a) strain at fracture (in %), (b) % reduction in area.
(vi) Resilience (area under the curve elastic portion- OY).
(vii) Toughness (area under the curve total)→ has unit of Energy/volume [J/m3].
(viii) Strain hardening exponent (from - plot).

Questions we can ask.

 Why the straight portion in the plot?
 Why the non-linear behaviour after the elastic
region?
 Why is there ‘hardening’ on plastic deformation?
 Why fracture?
 What about the state of stress during the test?
 Why the difference between s-e and - curves?
 What is the significance of the area under various
portions?
 How can we obtain parameters obtained from a
UTT in other conditions?
Toughness is the energy absorbed by the sample up to fracture
Funda Check In a uniaxial tension test (UTT) we apply tensile forces. Shear stresses are
required for plastic deformation by slip. How did plastic deformation occur in the
case of UTT? Also have a look here

 In a UTT any inclined plane (i.e. except the vertical and horizontal planes) all planes feel
shear. If a slip plane (within a grain) is oriented in such a way as to feel a shear stress in
excess of the Peierls stress (or the PN stress or CRSS) then slip is initiated.

Note how a weak plane in the material shears off due to applied tensile forces
 Q&A What is meant by toughness?

 Toughness is the energy absorbed by the material upto failure. This could be in a uniaxial
tension test or in an impact test (which is done using a notched specimen Charpy or Izod
specimens).
 Toughness is combined parameter involving strength and ductility (i.e. a material with higher
strength for a given ductility or higher ductility for a given strength has higher toughness).

Q&A What are the simple tests we can perform on test specimens to evaluate their
mechanical behaviour?
 Uniaxial tension test.
 Compression test.
 Hardness test.
 Bending test (3-point, 4-point bend tests).
 Torsion test.
  Why does the stress value drop after UTS in a “s-e” plot?
Funda Check
 Why does this not happen in the “-” plot?

 After necking the load bearing area decreases, however in the computation of ‘s’ we divide
by the original area A0 → leading to a apparent drop in stress (or strength). The word
apparent has been used as in reality the material continues to harden (get stronger and is
capable of ‘bearing’ higher stress).
 In the “-” plot we divide by the instantaneous area and hence the hardening effect with
deformation is captured (even beyond the necking).
 Hence, in the “-” plot the necking event cannot be ‘captured’.

Funda Check What is the difference between Stiffness and Young’s modulus?

 Both relate to the elastic property of the material.

 Stiffness is the structure/geometry (of sample) dependent property (e.g. we talk about the
stiffness of a spring). A wire in the form of a spring give considerably more elongation (for
the same load) as compared to it being in the form of a straight wire.
 Young’s modulus is a geometry independent material property (e.g. Young’s modulus of
polycrystalline Cu).
Result of an actual stress(s)-strain(e) plots Notes
Note again that it is not a good idea to calculate Young’s modulus for s-e plot  The cross head velocity is in mm/min.
 Steel has a higher yield stress and UTS.
 It is not a good idea to calculate Young’s
modulus (or the elongation in the elastic
region) from the stress-strain plots. This is
Peak Stress 193.0 MPa because the machine compliance is in series
Peak Load 5.83 kN with the specimen compliance.

Specimen ID Aluminium Idealized Yield Point Phenomenon

mm2
Engg. Stress

Cross Sectional Area 30.2

Gauge Length 28.44 mm
Cross head velocity 2 mm/min
Test mode Stroke

Engg. strain
Careful experimentation has to be done to
capture the full details of the Yield Point
Note the ‘serrated’ yielding
Phenomena region (not done here!)
(yield point phenomenon)

Specimen Mild Steel

Area 27.91 mm2
Gauge Length 28.24 mm
Cross head velocity 2 mm/min
Test mode Stroke  In materials like steel the Yield Point Phenomenon
is observed. This occurs due to ‘locking’ of
Peak Stress 595.7 MPa
dislocations by carbon atoms (more about this elsewhere).
Peak Load 16.6 kN  This phenomenon is also observed in other
materials (like LiF crystals), wherein there is a
paucity of mobile dislocations.
Comparison between “Engineering” and “True” quantities:
 In engineering stress since we are dividing by a constant number A0, the original area (while
there is a local reduction in area around the neck). This leads to an underestimate of the stress (the flow stress).
 ‘Engineering’ and ‘true’ values are related by the equations as below.
 At low strains (in the uniaxial tension test) either of the values work fine.
 As we shall see that during the tension test localized plastic deformation occurs after some
strain (called necking). This leads to inhomogeneity in the stress across the length of the
sample and under such circumstances true stress should be used.

A0 Li
From volume constancy  A 0 L0 =Ai Li  
Ai L0


P
Ai

P A0
A0 Ai
L   L 
 s  i   s 1  i  1  s(1  e)
 L0   L0 
  s( 1  e) Valid till
necking starts
 
ε  ln ( 1  e)
L
dL L L
 L  ln
L0
  ln 1   1  ln(1+e)
L0  L0 

Comparison between true strain and engineering strain

True strain () 0.01 0.10 0.20 0.50 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
Engineering strain (e) 0.01 0.105 0.22 0.65 1.72 6.39 19.09 53.6
Note that for strains of about 0.4, ‘true’ and ‘engineering’ strains can be assumed to be equal. At large strains the
deviations between the values are large.
Where does Yielding start?
 Yielding can be defined in many contexts.
 Truly speaking (microscopically) it is point at which dislocations
leave the crystal (grain) and cause microscopic plastic deformation
(of unit ‘b’)  this is best determined from microstrain (~10–6 )
experiments on single crystals. However, in practical terms it is
determined from the stress-strain plot (by say an offset as described
below).
 True elastic limit (microscopically and macroscopically elastic →
where in there is not even microscopic yielding)  Microscopic
elastic
 ~10–6 [OA portion of the curve].
 Microscopically plastic but macroscopically elastic →
[AY portion of the curve]  elastic
Macroscopic

 Proportional limit  the point at which there is a deviation from the

straight line ‘elastic’ regime.
 Offset Yield Strength (proof stress)  A curve is drawn parallel to
the elastic line at a given strain like 0.2% (= 0.002) to determine the
yield strength. This

 In some materials (e.g. pure annealed Cu, gray cast iron etc.) the linear portion of the curve
may be limited and yield strength may arbitrarily determined as the stress at some given
strain (say 0.005).
Funda Check Previous page is too confusing where does yielding really start?

 True (it is very confusing!). We have the macroscopic picture and

the microscopic picture.
 In the macroscopic picture, we have three quantities related
to the limit of elasticity or start of yielding in a uniaxial tension test.
1) Proportional limit  the point ‘C’ the linear portion.
2) Elastic limit the point ‘D’ from where if the specimen
is unloaded it will return to ‘O’.
3) 0.2% offset  the point ‘P’ obtained by drawing a line
parallel to OC starting at point ‘S’ (a strain of 0.2%) to
intersect the curve at P. The stress corresponding to ‘P’ is called the
0.2% offset proof stress and is a practical measure of yield stress.
 Microscopically, the region OD can be divided into three
parts:
1) Region OA  ‘truly’ elastic. Region where dislocations
do not move.
2) Region AB  Also Elastic. Dislocations move reversibly Thus by point ‘P’ some plastic
(i.e. dislocations start to move, but do not leave the grains, deformation must have already
return to original configuration on release of load). occurred (even macroscopically).
3) Region BD  Microscopically plastic. Macroscopically
elastic. Region where dislocations move and leave the
crystal, but this is not manifested in the stress strain curve.
However, this slide may not remove the confusion!
Continued…
 For an experiment done in shear on single crystals the equivalent region to OY can further
be subdivided into:
 True elastic strain (microscopic) till the true elastic limit (A).
 Onset of microscopic plastic deformation above a stress of B.
 For Mo a comparison of these quantities is as follows: A = 0.5 MPa, B = 5 MPa and
0 (macroscopic yield stress in shear) = 50 MPa.

Important Points
 Yielding begins when a stress equal to y (yield stress) is applied; however to cause further
plastic deformation increased stress has to be applied  i.e. the material hardens with
plastic deformation → known as work hardening/strain hardening.
 Beyond necking the state of stress becomes triaxial (in a cylindrical specimen considered).
Technically the yield criterion in uniaxial tension cannot be applied beyond this point.
Plastic deformation (= yielding) and state of stress
 We shall keep our focus on plastic deformation by slip.
 y is yield stress in an uniaxial tension test (i.e. plastic deformation will start after crossing yield stress
only under uniaxial tensile loading) and should not be used in other states of stress (other criteria of
yield should be used for a generalized state of stress).
 I.e in uniaxial tension the yield criterion is very simple:
Yielding starts when:   y . Note:  is a field variable and y is a material property.
 Hydrostatic pressure (leading to hydrostatic stress in a material) does not lead to yielding in
a continuous solid (usually!).
 This implies that the stress deviator holds the key to yielding.
 For an isotropic material the yield criterion will not be independent of the choice of the axes
(i.e. a invariant function). Hence, for an isotropic material the yield criteria (we will note that there are more than
one) will be a function of the invariants of the stress deviator.

 Two commonly yield criteria are:

 Von Mises or Distortion-Energy Criterion
 Maximum shear stress or Tresca Criterion. (We will consider these later).
What is meant by ductility?
 Slip is competing with other processes which can lead to failure.
 In simple terms a ductile material is one which yields before failure (i.e. y < f).
 Ductility depends on the state of stress used during deformation.
 We can obtain an measure of the ‘ductility’ of a material from the uniaxial tension test as
follows (by putting together the fractured parts to make the measurement):
 Strain at fracture (ef) (usually expressed as %), (often called elongation, although it is a dimensionless quantity)
 Reduction in area at fracture (q) (usually expressed as %)
Note: this is ductility in
L f  L0 A0  Af Uniaxial Tension Test
e f (%)  100 q(%)  100
L0 A0
 ‘q’ is a ‘better measure*’ of ductility as it does not depend on the gauge length (L0); while,
‘ef ’ depends on L0. Elongation/strain to necking (uniform elongation, eu) can also be used to
avoid the complication arising from necking. L  L0
eu (%)  u 100
Also, ‘q’ is a ‘more’ structure sensitive ductility parameter. L0
 Sometimes it is easier to visualize elongation as a measure of ductility rather than a reduction
in area. For this the calculation has to be based on a very short gauge length in the necked
region  called Zero-gauge-length elongation (e0). ‘e0’ can be calculated from ‘q’ using
constancy of volume in plastic deformation (AL=A0L0).

q L A0 1 L  L0 A0 1 q
e0   
A 1 q
e0   1 
1 q
1 
1 q
1 q
L0 L0 A
* I.e. does not underestimate ductility.
Comparison between reduction in area versus strain at fracture

Dominated by elongation Dominated by reduction

before necking in area after necking

 We had seen two measures of ductility: L f  L0 A0  Af

 Strain at fracture (ef) ef  q
 Reduction in area at fracture (q) L0 A0

 We had also seen that strain based measure can be related to area based measure
mathematically as: q
e0 
1 q

 However, it should be noted that they represent different aspects of material behaviour.
 For reasonable gauge lengths, ‘e’ is dominated by uniform elongation prior to necking and
thus is dependent on the strain hardening capacity of the material (more the strain
hardening, more will be the ‘e’). Main contribution to ‘q’ (area based calculation) comes
from the necking process (which is more geometry (& microstructure dependent)).
 Hence, reduction in area is not ‘truly’ a material property and has ‘geometry dependence’.
What happens after necking?
Following factors come in to picture due to necking:
 Till necking the deformation is ~uniform along the whole gauge length.
 Till necking, the points on the - plot lie to the left and higher than the s-e plot (as below).
 After the onset of necking deformation is localized around the neck region.
 The formulae used for conversion of ‘e’ to ‘’ and ‘s’ to ‘’ cannot be used after the onset of
necking.   s( 1  e) ε  ln ( 1  e)
 Triaxial state of stress develops and uniaxiality condition assumed during the test breaks
down.
 Necking can be considered as an plastic instability in tension.
 Hence, quantities calculated after the onset of necking (like fracture stress, F) has to be
corrected for: (i) triaxial state of stress, (ii) correct cross sectional area.

Neck

Fractured surfaces
Original sample
 Why is the point ‘N’ (the necking point) in the - curve to the left and above
Funda Check
that in the s-e curve? How to compute strains (& stresses) beyond ‘N’?
 Let the subscript N refer to ‘at the neck’ for now (after necking has started).
 N = FN / AN . sN = FN / A0 . AN < A0  N > sN.
  = ln (1+e). Being a logarithm (natural) the value of  << e.
 Hence, N’ is to left and above N. After necking we cannot use the formulae for conversion of
engineering to true quantities as the state of stress is triaxial.
 Beyond ‘N’, the calculation has to be based actual area (eq. (1) below). RHS is for cylindrical specimen (Cy.
Sp.)

(1)
 A0   4D 
 2
 D0 
  ln    ln  
0
 2ln  
 A D
2
4 D  Cy . Sp.
After necking
 Eq.(1) has to be used to determine true strain.
 The true strains far exceed that calculated
from: e = L/L0.
 The flow curve after necking often turns out
Region of validity   s( 1  e) be/has: (i) linear or (ii) continuously
of the equations decreasing slope.
ε  ln ( 1  e)  Given the triaxial state of stress, it is ‘difficult’
to ascertain the longitudinal tensile stress
accurately.
‘True’ values beyond necking

Calculation of true strain beyond necking:

 ‘True’ strain values beyond necking can be obtained by using the concept of zero-gauge-
length elongation (e0). This involves measurement of instantaneous area.
 q   1 
ε  ln ( 1  e) Beyond necking ε0  ln( 1  e0 ) ε0  ln 1    ln  
q  1 q   1 q 
e0 
A0  Ai 1 q
q
A0 SEM fractograph: typical features observed in the case of ductile
fracture (microvoid formation)

SEM top view of fractured specimen showing shear lips

Note: Further complications arise at strains close to fracture as microvoid nucleation & growth take place
and hence all formulations based on continuum approach (e.g. volume constancy) etc. are not valid
anymore.
 Cotd.. ‘True’ values beyond necking

Calculation of true Stress beyond necking:

 Neck acts like a diffuse notch. This produces a triaxial state of stress (radial and transverse
components of stress exist in addition to the longitudinal component)  this raises the
value of the longitudinal stress required to case plastic flow.
 Using certain assumptions (as below) some correction to the state of stress can be made*
(given that the state of stress is triaxial, such a correction should be viewed appropriately).
 Assumptions used in the correction*:  neck is circular (radius = R),  von Mises’ criterion
can be used for yielding,  strains are constant across the neck.
 The corrected uniaxial stress (uniaxial) is calculated from the stress from the experiment
(exp=Load/Alocal), using the formula as below.

The Correction

 exp
 uniaxial 
 2R    a 
1   ln 1  
 A    2 R  

* P.W. Bridgman, Trans. Am. Soc. Met. 32 (1944) 553.

Fracture stress and fracture strain
 The tensile specimen fails (macroscopically) by ‘cup & cone’ fracture. This is called so,
because one of the surfaces resembles a cup and the other a cone.
 The outer regions fail by shear and inner regions in tension.
 Fracture strain (ef) is often used as a measure of ductility.

Cup

Cup & cone fracture Cone

After fracture the sample unloads to ‘U’ (along FU)

and only pure plastic strains survive

Calculation of fracture stress/strain:  A0   1 

 f  ln    ln  
 To calculate true fracture stress (F) we need the area at fracture  Af   1 q f
(which is often not readily available and often the data reported for    
fracture stress could be in error). Pf
 Further, this fracture stress has to be corrected for triaxiality. f 
 True strain at fracture can be calculated from the areas as below. Af
 The uniaxial tensile test (UTT) as described was done on a ductile material, then
Funda Check
why did it fracture? (isn’t it that brittle materials fracture and not ductile ones?)
 A ductile material is one whose fracture stress is above its yield stress: y < f (i.e. on
loading in uniaxail tension it yields before fracture). (Microscopically, in yielding we drive dislocations and in
fracture we propagate cracks).
 Two factors contribute to this fracture (especially the two points in highlighted boxes below).
(i) Necking:
 reduces the load bearing area (locally),
 introduces a triaxial state of stress (like at a crack tip) Two parts of the sample
(triaxial state of stress tends to suppresses plasticity by slip), are in different parts of
the stress-strain curve
 locally amplifies the stress (a neck is like a blunt crack),
 leads to a higher strain locally (which leads to a non-uniformity in strain across the gauge length),
 locally magnifies the strain rate (i.e. the strain rate in the vicinity of the crack is higher).
(ii) The progressive work hardening, which makes y > f $
(i.e. the yield stress becomes more than the fracture stress).

 The actual process is complicated (which includes the

formation of voids).
 A extremely ductile material like gold does not fracture in
a UTT experiment it ruptures* (the sample necks down
to a point and debonds).
* The term rupture implies different aspects in other contexts.
$ Note: actually things are not that simple due to necking and this criterion in uniaxial tension cannot be applied !!!
Funda Check What is ‘ductility’ and what are the factors which affect the ductility?

 Ductility implies the ability of the material to undergo plastic deformation (typically before fracture).
We have to distinguish between macroscopic and microscopic ductility. Often, there might be no/little
visible macroscopic ductility, but considerable amount of plastic deformation at the microscopic level.
 Broadly, we can think of three factors which affect the ductility of a material, as shown in the flow
diagram below. Needless to point out, the material properties are to considered at the test conditions and
hence these two aspects are intimately linked.
 A material which may be brittle at low T, may become ductile at high temperatures.
 At high strain rates (which results from a high loading rate) a ductile material (i.e. under low rates of
loading) may behave in a brittle manner.
 Sometimes less importance is paid to the geometry or state of stress. The geometry of the component
plays an important role in deciding the loading conditions on the material. E.g. a spring pulled in tension
leads to torsion at the material level.
 We have already seen that a ‘neck’ in the specimen (which is like a blunt crack) leads to a triaxial state
of stress, which suppresses plastic deformation. The worst case scenario is ‘hydrostatic’ state of stress,
wherein there is no plane which experiences shear stresses. Since shear stresses are required for plastic
deformation, this state of stress is not conducive for plastic deformation. This implies that the material
will seem brittle, albeit the fact that the material is still “ductile” (assuming we started off with a ductile material).

Material Properties PN stress, strain rate sensitivity, grain size, heterogeneities

Factors which More about the effect of state of
Testing conditions T, crosshead velocity
affect ductility stress on ductility can be found here
Geometry/state of stress
Unloading the specimen during the tension test
 If the specimen is unloaded beyond the yield point (say point ‘X’ in figure below), elastic
strain is recovered (while plastic strain is not). The unloading path is XM.
 The strain recovered (  Y ) is more than that recovered if the specimen was to be
unloaded from ‘Y’ ( X )  i.e. in this sense the material is ‘more elastic’ in the plastic
elastic
 elastic
region (in the presence of work hardening), than in the elastic region!
 If the specimen is reloaded it will follow the reverse path and yielding will start at ~X.
Because of strain hardening* the yield strength of the specimen is higher.
If the specimen is unloaded before ‘Y’, it will get back to its original state (‘O’)

* Strain Hardening is also called work hardening →

The material becomes harder with plastic deformation
(on tensile loading the present case)
 We will see later that strain hardening is usually caused
by multiplication of dislocations.

If one is given a material which is ‘at’ point ‘M’, then the

Yield stress of such a material would be ~X (i.e. as we
don’t know the ‘prior history’ of the specimen loading,
we would call ~X as yield stress of the specimen).

The stress corresponding to the blue part of the curve is also called
the ‘flow stress’.
Unloading followed by re-loading
 Usually, there is a small hysteresis during unloading and reloading (as in the figure below).
 The unloading takes place along the path XM, while the reloading is along the path MR. I.e.
during reloading, the curve joins the flow curve YF (that obtained during uninterrupted
loading) at R. (XR is the missing part of the flow curve YF).
 This hysteresis is often neglected.
 Variables in plastic deformation  ,  , , T
 In the tension experiment just described the temperature (T) is usually kept constant and
the sample is pulled (between two crossheads of a UTM) at a constant velocity. The
crosshead velocity can be converted to strain rate (  ) using the gauge length (L0) of the
specimen.   v / L0
 At low temperatures (below the recrystallization temperature of the material, T < 0.4Tm)
the material hardens on plastic deformation (YF in the - plot  known as work
hardening or strain hardening). The net strain is an important parameter under such
circumstances and the material becomes a partial store of the deformation energy provided.
The energy is essentially stored in the form of dislocations and point defects.
 If deformation is carried out at high temperatures (above the recrystallization temperature;
wherein, new strain free grains are continuously forming as the deformation proceeds),
strain rate becomes the important parameter instead of net strain.

Range of strain rates obtained in various experiments

Range of strain rate Cause Effect
Test
(/s) Loading, Displacements Stress
Creep tests 10–8 to 10–5 Cross head velocity Strain rate
Quasi-static tension tests (in an UTM) 10–5 to 10–1 Cross head displacement Strain
Dynamic tension tests 10–1 to 102 Deformation of sample Cooling, Heating
High strain rate tests using impact bars 102 to 104
Ignored in this introductory treatment
Explosive loading using projectiles (shock tests) 104 to 108
 In the - plot the plastic stress and strain are usually expressed by the expression given
below. Where, ‘n’ is the strain hardening exponent and ‘K’ is the strength coefficient.

Usually expressed as (for plastic)  plastic   K plastic n 

 ,T Constant strain rate and T.
Phenomenological (‘curve fitting type’) equation

 ln   
n 
 ln     ,T

 Deviations from this behaviour often observed (e.g. in Austenitic stainless steel) at low
strains (~10–3) and/or at high strains (~1.0). Other forms of the power law equation are also
considered in literature (e.g.   y  K plastic n ) (Some of these are more complicated and involve more constants).
 An ideal plastic material (without strain hardening) would begin to neck right at the onset of
yielding. At low temperatures (below recrystallization temperature- less than about 0.5Tm)
strain hardening is very important to obtain good ductility. This can be understood from the
analysis of the results of the uniaxial tension test. During tensile deformation instability in
the form of necking localizes deformation to a small region (which now experiences a
triaxial state of stress). In the presence of strain hardening the neck portion (which has been
strained more) hardens and the deformation is spread to other regions, thus increasing the
ductility obtained.
 Cu and brass (n ~ 0.5) can be given large plastic strain (before fracture) as compared to
steels with n ~ 0.15.
 When true strain is less than 1, the smaller value of ‘n’ dominates over a larger value of ‘n’
Variables/parameters in mechanical testing

There are variables, which we have to ‘worry about’, when we do mechanical testing
(for the test and to interpret the results):
 Process parameters (characterized by parameters inside the sample)
 Mode of deformation, Sample dimensions, Stress, Strain, Strain Rate,
Temperature etc.
 Material parameters
 Crystal structure, Composition & segregation, Grain size, dislocation density,
texture, etc.
Properties of selected materials

Material n K (MPa)
Annealed Cu 0.54 320

Al alloy (2024, T3) 0.16 690

Annealed Brass (70/30) 0.49 900

Annealed 0.5% C steel 0.26 530

0.6% carbon steel
0.10 1570
Quenched and Tempered (540C)

Material Phases Present Specification E (GPa) σy (MPa) y (103) Ref.

BS 1490
Room temperature data Aluminum 71 240 3.4 [1]
(99% pure)
Metals
BS 070M20
Mild Steel 210 215 1.0 [2]
>0.2 wt.% C
Aluminum Oxide ~ 350 255-260.6
- 0.7 [3]
(Al2O3) 344.7-408.8 (Fracture)
Ceramics and Glass
~ 73 69.6-74.53
Glass (SiO2) - 1.0 [3]
72.76-74.15 (Fracture)
~4
Polymers Polyester General purpose grade 51.5-55.1 12.5 [3]
1.03-4.48
[1] Frank King.1913 Aluminium and its Alloys. Ellis Horwood limited
[2] Brandes EA, Brook GB, Smithells CJ. 1992 Smithells metals reference book. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
[3] James F. Shackelford, William Alexander. 2001 CRC Materials Science and Engineering Handbook. 3rd edition, CRC press, Washington.
 Q&A How does the stress-strain curve for an elastomer (like rubber) look like?
 The stress strain curve for an elastomer has the following features (fig below).
 Non-linear elasticity  this implies a varying modulus.
 Low value of Young’s modulus. Three regimes:
(i) decreasing modulus with elongation (region-OA),
(ii) nearly constant modulus (AB),
(iii) increasing modulus (BC).
 Large elastic elongations (~200%).

B
A

O
Note the magnitude in x and y axes
 At high temperatures (above recrystallization temperature) where strain rate is the important
parameter instead of strain, a power law equation can be written as below between stress and
strain rate.

  C m   ,T The effect of strain rate is compared by performing tests to a

constant strain
 ln   
m 
C → a constant  ln     ,T
m → index of strain rate sensitivity.
◘ If m = 0  stress is independent of strain rate (stress-strain
curve would be same for all strain rates).
◘ m ~ 0.2 for common metals.
◘ If m  (0.4, 0.9) the material may exhibit superplastic behaviour.
◘ m = 1 → material behaves like a viscous liquid (Newtonian flow).

 Thermal softening coefficient () is also defined as below.

 ln 

 ln T
Further aspects regarding strain rate sensitivity

 In some materials (due to structural condition or high temperature) necking is prevented by

strain rate hardening.

1/ m 1/ m
P 1
  C   ,Tm
  C 
m P     
A C   A
From the definition of true strain
1 dL 1 dA
 
L dt A dt 1/ m 1/ m
1 dA  P  1
    
A dt  C   A

1/ m
dA  P   1   If m < 1→ smaller the cross-sectional area, the
    (1 m ) / m  
dt  C  A  more rapidly the area is reduced.
 If m = 1 → material behaves like a Newtonian
viscous liquid → dA/dt is independent of A.
 1/ m
dA  P   1 
    (1 m ) / m 
dt  C  A 
Effect of temperature and strain rate on the stress strain curve
 Slip is a thermally activated process. So increasing the temperature decreases the flow
stress. This is because dislocations can make a thermally activated jump over the Peierls barrier.
 As mentioned elsewhere, increasing the strain rate (by a few orders of magnitude) is like
decreasing the temperature. The strength of the material increases on increasing the strain
rate (with concomitant decrease in ductility). At very high strain rates (as experienced when a bullet hits a
material), dynamic effects (wave propagation in the structure) become important and some of the usual material properties may become
irrelevant.
 The effect of these two parameters on the stress-strain curve is slightly different for FCC
and BCC metals.
BCC FCC
Effect of temperature and strain rate on the yield stress

 As noted before, slip is a thermally activated process and hence yield stress decreases with
an increasing temperature.
 With increasing strain rate (by orders of magnitude) the yield stress increases.

Low carbon steel

specimens

Low carbon steel

specimen

Note that strain rate is in log scale

Funda Check  What is the importance of ‘m’ and ‘n’ (strain hardening exponent and strain rate sensitivity)?

 We have seen that below recrystallization temperature ‘n’ is ‘the’ important parameter.
 Above recrystallization temperature it is ‘m’ which is important.
 We have also noted that it is necking which limits the ductility in uniaxial tension.
 Necking implies that there is locally more deformation (strain) and the strain rate is also
higher locally.
 Hence, if the ‘locally deformed’ material becomes harder (stronger) then the deformation
will ‘spread’ to other regions along the gauge length and we will obtain more ductility.
 Hence having a higher value of ‘n’ or ‘m’ is beneficial for obtaining good ductility.
Plastic deformation by slip Click here to see overview of mechanisms/modes of plastic deformation

 Now we try to understand the underlying mechanisms for plastic deformation.

 As we noted in the beginning of the chapter plastic deformation can occur by many
mechanisms  SLIP is the most important of them. At low temperatures (especially in BCC
metals) twinning may also be come important.
 At the fundamental level plastic deformation (in crystalline materials) by slip involves the
motion of dislocations on the slip plane  finally leaving the crystal/grain* (creating a step
of Burgers vector).
 Slip is caused by shear stresses (at the level of the slip plane). Hence, a purely hydrostatic
state of stress cannot cause slip (or twinning for that matter).
 A slip system consists of a slip direction lying on a slip plane.
 Under any given external loading conditions, slip will be initiated on a particular slip system
if the Resolved Shear Stress (RSS)** exceeds a critical value [the Critical Resolved Shear
Stress (CRSS)].
 For slip to occur in polycrystalline materials, 5 independent slip systems are required. Hence,
materials which are ductile in single crystalline form, may not be ductile in polycrystalline
form. CCP crystals (Cu, Al, Au) have excellent ductility.
 At higher temperatures more slip systems may become active and hence polycrystalline
materials which are brittle at low temperature, may become ductile at high temperature.

* Leaving the crystal part is important

** To be defined soon
Slip systems
 In CCP, HCP materials the slip system consists of a close packed direction on a close packed plane.
 Just the existence of a slip system does not guarantee slip  slip is competing against other processes like
twinning and fracture. If the stress to cause slip is very high (i.e. CRSS is very high), then fracture may
occur before slip (like in brittle ceramics).

Crystal Slip plane(s) Slip direction Number of slip systems

CCP (FCC) {111} ½<110> 12
HCP (0001) <1120> 3
BCC ½[111] 12
{110}, {112}, {123}
Not close packed
NaCl (FCC lattice) {110} ½<110> 6
Ionic {111} not a slip plane

C (FCC lattice)
{111} ½<110> 12
Diamond cubic
More examples of slip systems

Crystal Slip plane(s) Slip direction Slip systems

TiO2
{101} <101>
Rutile
CaF2, UO2, ThO2
{001} <110>
Fluorite
CsCl <001>
{110}
B2
NaCl, LiF, MgO
{110} <110> 6
Rock Salt
C, Ge, Si
{111} <110> 12
Diamond cubic
MgAl2O4
{111} <110>
Spinel
Al2O3
(0001) <1120>
Hexagonal
More examples of slip systems

Crystal Slip plane(s) Slip direction (b) Slip systems

Cu (FCC)
{111} (a/2)< 1 10> 4 x 3 = 12
Fm 3m
{011} 6 x 2 = 12
W (BCC)
{112} (a/2)<11 1> 12 x 1 = 12
Im 3m
{123} 24 x 1 = 24
{0001} 1x3=3
Mg (HCP)
{10 10} (a/3)<1120> 3x1=3
P63/mmc
{10 11} 6x1=6

Al2O3 {0001} 1x3=3

(a/3)<1120>
R 3c {10 10} 3x1=3

NaCl {110} 6x1=6

(a/2)< 1 10>
Fm 3m {001} 6x1=6

CsCl
{110} a<001> 6x1=6
Pm 3m

(100) 1x1=1
Polyethylene
{110} c<001> 2x1=2
Pnam
(010) 1x1=1
 Critical Resolved Shear Stress (CRSS) What is the connection between Peierls stress and CRSS?

 As we saw plastic deformation by slip is due to shear stresses.

 Even if we apply an tensile force on the specimen  the shear stress existing on the slip
plane (the resolved shear stress) is responsible for slip.
 When the Resolved Shear Stress (RSS) reaches a critical value → Critical Resolved Shear
Stress (CRSS) → plastic deformation starts (The actual Schmid’s law).
Slip plane
 Force   F Cos  F F 
Stress       normal
  
 Area 1D  A / Cos 
A  A
 RSS   Cos Cos Schmid factor

Slip direction
Schmid’s law A material property  
Slip is initiated when  RSS   CRSS A’
 A 
CRSS is a material parameter, which is determined from experiments A'   
 CRSS  Cos 
Yield strength of a single crystal y 
Cos Cos A
 Maximum shear stress is in a plane inclined at ( =) 45. Note externally only tensile
forces are being applied
 The vertical (90) and horizontal plane (0) feel no shear stresses.
How does the motion of dislocations lead to a macroscopic shape change?
(From microscopic slip to macroscopic deformation  a first feel!)

 When one bents a rod of aluminium to a new shape, it involves processes occurring at
various lengthscales and understanding these is an arduous task.
 However, at the fundamental level slip is at the heart of the whole process.
 To understand ‘how slip can lead to shape change?’; we consider a square crystal
deformed to a rhombus (as Below).

Net shape change

 Step formed
Dislocation
when dislocation
formed by
leaves the crystal
pushing in
a plane  
b

Now visualize dislocations being punched in on successive planes  moving and finally
leaving the crystal
This sequence of events finally leads to deformed shape which can be approximated to a
rhombus

Net shape change

Stress to move a dislocation: Peierls – Nabarro (PN) stress
 We have seen that there is a critical stress required to move a dislocation.
 At the fundamental level the motion of a dislocation involves the rearrangement of bonds 
requires application of shear stress on the slip plane.
 When ‘sufficient stress’ is applied the dislocation moves from one metastable energy
minimum to another.
 The original model is due to Peierls & Nabarro (formula as below) and the ‘sufficient’ stress
which needs to be applied is called Peierls-Nabarro stress (PN stress) or simply Peierls stress.
 Width of the dislocation is considered as a basis for the ease of motion of a dislocation in the
model which is a function of the bonding in the material.

 2w   G → shear modulus of the crystal

 
 PN  G e  b   w → width of the dislocation !!!
 b → |b|

What is the connection between Peierls Stress and Critical Resolved

Shear Stress? Click here to know more Click here to know more about Peierls Stress
How to increase the strength? Strengthening mechanisms

 We have seen that slip of dislocations weakens the crystal. Hence we have two strategies to
strengthen the crystal/material:
 completely remove dislocations  difficult, but dislocation free whiskers have been
produced (however, this is not a good strategy as dislocations can nucleate during loading)
 increase resistance to the motion of dislocations or put impediments to the motion of
dislocations  this can be done in many ways as listed below.

 1) Solid solution strengthening  (increase in lattice friction) by adding interstitial and

substitutional alloying elements.
 2) Cold Work  (dislocation density strengthening) increase point defect and dislocation density
(Cold work increases Yield stress but decreases the % elongation, i.e. ductility).
 3) Decrease in grain size  (grain boundary strengthening) grain boundaries provide an
impediment to the motion of dislocations (Hall-Petch hardening).
 4) Precipitation/dispersion hardening  introduce precipitates or inclusions in the path of
dislocations, which impede the motion of dislocations.

 What causes weakening of the crystal  crystals become weaker on heating.

Strengthening mechanisms
1 2 3 4

Solid solution Forest dislocation Grain boundary Precipitate & Dispersoid

Applied shear stress vs internal opposition
 PN stress is the ‘bare minimum’ stress required for plastic deformation. Usually there will be
other sources of opposition/impediment (or even support/aid) to the motion of dislocations in
the material. Some of these include :
 Stress fields of other dislocations
 Stress fields from coherent/semicoherent precipitates
 Stress fields from low angle grain boundaries
 Grain boundaries
 Effect of solute atoms and vacancies
 Stacking Faults
 Twin boundaries
 Phonon drag atomic vibrations increase the difficulty level for dislocation motion.  etc.
 Some of these barriers (the short range obstacles) can be overcome by thermal activation
(while other cannot be- the long range obstacles cannot be overcome by thermal activation).
 These factors lead to the strengthening of the material.

Applied shear stress () Internal resisting stress (i)

 Based on the fact if the obstacle can be
Classification of the obstacles to motion of a dislocation overcome by thermal activation
 Athermal    f (T, strain rate)
 These arise from long range internal stress fields
Long range obstacles (G)  Sources:
►Stress fields of other dislocations
►Incoherent precipitates
Internal resisting stress (i) Note: G has some temperature dependence as G decreases with T

 Thermal   = f (T, strain rate)

 Short range ~ 10 atomic diameters
Short range obstacles (T)  T can help dislocations overcome these obstacles
 Sources:
►Peierls-Nabarro stress
►Stress fields of coherent precipitates & solute atoms
Characteristics of obstacles
Obstacle Impediments (barriers) to dislocation motion
ΔF  Example
strength
b Dispersions, large or strong  Grain boundaries (especially high angle
Strong 2 μb3 > grain boundaries).
precipitates (spacing ℓ)
 Immobile (sessile) dislocations
Forest dislocations, radiation ► Lomer-Cottrell lock
μb
Medium 0.2-1.0 µb3  damage; small or week ► Frank partial dislocation.
precipitates (spacing ℓ)  Twin boundaries.
μb Lattice resistance; solution  Precipitates (especially finely distributed
Weak < 0.2 μb3 
hardening (solute spacing ℓ) incoherent precipitates) and inclusions.

Source: Deformation Mechanism Maps by H.J. Frost and M.F.Ashby

Effect of Temperature
 It is common observation that metals can be easily deformed when heated→ Ironsmith
gives shape to steel after heating it.
 Motion of a dislocation can be assisted by thermal energy.
 However, motion of dislocations by pure thermal activation is random.
 A dislocation can be thermally activated to cross the potential barrier ‘Q’ to the
neighbouring metastable position.
 Strain rate can be related to the temperature (T) and ‘Q’ as in the equation below.
 This thermal activation reduces the Yield stress (or flow stress).
 Materials which are brittle at room temperature may also become ductile at high
temperatures.

Q
 
  Ae  kT 
Q
d
   Strain rate
dt

Equilibrium positions of a dislocation

 Note in the figure below that the metals which start out stronger (have a high yield stress)
become severely weakened on heating.
 For covalent and ionic materials the curves are not drawn at low temperatures → at low
temperatures these materials fracture (are brittle).
Metallic Very high temperatures
Ionic needed for thermal
Fe-BCC
Fe activation
W-BCC to have any effect
W
450
Yield Stress (MPa) →

Al2O3
Covalent
300 Si
18-8 SS
Ni-FCC
150 Ni
Cu-FCC
Cu
RT is like HT and P-N 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
stress is easily overcome
T/Tm →
Strengthening Mechanism 1 Solid Solution Strengthening

 Solid solutions offer greater resistance to dislocation motion than pure crystals (even solute
with a lower strength in bulk form gives strengthening!).
 The stress fields around solute atoms interact with the stress fields around the dislocation to
leading to an increase in the stress required for the motion of a dislocation.
 The actual interaction between a dislocation and a solute is much more complex.
 The factors playing an important role are:
► Size of the solute more the size difference, more the hardening effect.
► Elastic modulus of the solute
(higher the elastic modulus of the solute greater the strengthening effect).
► e/a ratio of the solute.
 A curved dislocation line configuration is required for the solute atoms to provide hindrance
to dislocation motion.
 As shown in the plots in the next slide, increased solute concentration leads to an increased
hardening. However, this fact has to be weighed in the backdrop of solubility of the solute.
Carbon in BCC Fe has very little solubility (~0.08 wt.%) and hence the approach of pure
solid solution strengthening to harden a material can have a limited scope.
Size effect
 The magnitude of solid solution strengthening depends on the size difference between the
‘matrix’ atoms & the ‘additive’ atom and the concentration of the additive atoms.
For the same size difference the smaller
Size difference atom gives a greater strengthening effect
Size effect depends on: ~c
Concentration of the solute (c) y 
200 Sn (1.51)
Matrix: Cu (r = 1.28 Å)

Be (1.12)
150
y (MPa) →

Solute strengthening of Cu crystal

by solutes of different sizes
100

Zn (1.31)

50
(Values in parenthesis are atomic radius values in Å)

Solute Concentration (Atom %) →

0 10 20 30 40
Solute atoms can have three important effects on the stress-strain plot:
(i) increase the yield stress, along with the level of the plot (flow stress)
(ii) give rise to yield point phenomenon in some cases (like C in steel).

By ↑ i (lattice friction) X

↑ y

 →
Solute atoms ↑ level of  -  curve

Often produce Yield Point

Phenomenon  →  →

 →
Relative strengthening effect of Interstitial and Substitutional atoms

 Interstitial solute atoms have a non-spherical distortion field and can elastically interact
with both edge and screw dislocations. Hence they give a higher hardening effect (per unit
concentration) as compared to substitutional atoms which have (approximately) a
spherical distortion field.
 However, it should be noted that interstitial atoms usually have very limited solubility
(e.g. 0.01 wt.% C is soluble in BCC Fe at RT). On the other hand, substitutional atoms can
have complete solubility (e.g. isomorphous Au-Ag system→ satisfies Hume-Rothery
rules).

Relative strengthening effect / unit concentration

Non  spherical distortion field

Interstitial
  3Gsolute

Solute atoms

Substitutional Spherical
distortion
 
field Gsolute / 10
 Elastic Interstitial → Edge and screw dl.
Substitutional → edge
Long range
Modulus
(T insensitive)
Long range order
Mechanisms of interaction of
Solute-dislocation interaction dislocations with solute atoms
Stacking fault
Short range
Electrical
(T sensitive)

Short range order

Strengthening Mechanism 2 Cold Work increase in dislocation density
 Let us start with some points. A crystal without dislocations is strong (can reach the
theoretical shear strength). ‘Initially’, on introducing dislocations the strength drops.
 At low dislocation densities (~1012 m/m3) the strength continues to drop with increasing
dislocation density.
 On increasing the dislocation density further, the strength increases.
 This increase in dislocation density can be brought about by ‘cold work’ (plastic deformation
below about 0.4 Tm). One way of doing cold work is to plastically deform in a uniaxial tension test (considered soon).

 In polycrystals, grain boundary strengthening is

present in addition to that arising from an
increased dislocation density.

Schematic diagram
[Cold work in a uniaxial tension test] What causes Strain hardening? → multiplication of dislocations

 The increase in flow stress with strain is called strain hardening (or work hardening).
 Plastic deformation is caused by dislocations moving and leaving the crystal  this implies
that dislocation density should decrease with plastic deformation. However, it is observed
that dislocation density increases with strain (Eq.1 below)! Further, if dislocations are the agent
weakening the crystal  then with increased dislocation density the material should get
weaker! But, we observe on the contrary an increase in strength!

Annealed material Stronger material Strain hardening

Eq.1 
Cold work

dislocation ~ (10  10 )
6 9
dislocation ~ (1012  1014 )
Hence two important questions need to be answered:
 How does the dislocation density increase on plastic deformation? → X
ning
 What leads to strain hardening on the increase in dislocation density? d e
i n har
Stra

 This implies some sources of dislocation multiplication/

 →
creation should exist. [&]
 More dislocations is somehow causing a ‘traffic jam’ kind
of scenario and leading to strengthening.
 →
How can dislocation density increase with plastic deformation? Dislocation sources
 It is difficult to obtain crystals without dislocations (under special conditions whiskers have
been grown without dislocations).
 Dislocation can arise by/from the following processes.
 Solidification.  Plastic deformation (nucleation and multiplication).
 Irradiation.  Etc.
Some (details) regarding the specific sources/methods of formation/multiplication of dislocations include
the below.

 During solidification errors in the formation of a perfect crystal lattice can lead to
dislocations.
 Grain boundary ledges and steps emit dislocations during deformation.
 Aggregation and collapse of vacancies to form a disc or prismatic loop (FCC Frank partials).
These ‘excess’ vacancies could arise due to quenching from high temperature or irradiation.
 High stresses arising due to ► heterogeneous nucleation at second phase particles and
► during phase transformations can lead to the nucleation of dislocations.
 Frank-Read source and Orowan bowing mechanism and lead to an increase in the dislocation
density during plastic deformation.
 Intersection of dislocations can lead to an increase in the dislocation length (i.e. effectively an increase
in the dislocation density).

* Current understanding is that Frank-Read sources are rare and grain boundary ledge sources are more
common.
Strain hardening
 Strain hardening is caused due to three reasons:
1 Dislocations moving in non-parallel slip planes can intersect with each other
(“intersection with forest of dislocations”). This can lead to jogs on the ‘forest
dislocations’→ resulting in an increase in stress required to cause further plastic deformation
 Strain Hardening / work hardening.
2 Dislocations can also be rendered immobile as in the formation of the Lomer-Cottrell
barrier.
3 Interaction of the stress fields of dislocations can make it difficult for dislocations to
move.

Dynamic recovery

 The word ‘dynamic’ as an adjective implies (in

the context of deformation) that the process to
which it is prefixed occurs during deformation.
 In single crystal experiments the rate of strain
hardening decreases with further strain after
reaching a certain stress level.
 At this stress level screw dislocations are
activated for cross-slip.
 The RSS on the new slip plane should be enough
for glide.
1  Formation of the Lomer-Cottrell barrier
 [ 1 1 0]
2 (111)

1 
 [0 11]
2  (100)

1 
 [1 0 1]
2  ( 1 11)
1  1  1 
 [ 1 1 0]  [1 0 1]
2 (111) + 2  ( 1 11)
 [0 11]
2  (100)

Lomer-Cottrell barrier →
 The red and green dislocations attract each other and move towards
their line of intersection
[0 1 1]  They react as above to reduce their energy and produce the blue
dislocation
 The blue dislocation lies on the (100) plane which is not a close
packed plane → hence immobile → acts like a barrier to the motion
of other dislocations
 Other dislocations present in the material which intersect (or be present in) the slip plane
can impede the motion of dislocations (forest of intersecting dislocations). This implies that
increase in dislocation density can lead to an increase in the strength of the material (as given by
the empirical relation as below).

 Dislocation can intersect with each other and ‘react’ to give jogs and kinks (apart from
sessile dislocations).
 Cold work will increase the strength of the material via an increase in dislocation density,
but will lead to a decrease in the ductility (as expected!).
 Empirically, the strength (in shear) depends on the root of the dislocation density (eq. below).

Click here to know more about dislocation interactions

to give rise to jogs and kinks Dislocation Reactions

Empirical relation  0 → base stress to move a dislocation in the crystal in the absence of other
dislocations (i.e. if dislocation density is ‘effectively’ zero)

 0  A    → Dislocation density

 A → A constant

↑ as ↑ (cold work)  ↑ (i.e. strain hardening)

 (MN/m2)  ( m/m3) 0 (MN/m2) A (N/m)
COLD WORK
► ↑ strength 1.5 1010 0.5 10
► ↓ ductility 100 1014 0.5 10
Strengthening Mechanism 3 Grain Size Strengthening

 Studies across many materials has shown that on decreasing the grain size the yield
strength of the material increases. The formula making this connection is the famous Hall-
Petch relation.
 At vary small grain sizes this formula is expected to break down as we will approach the
theoretical shear strength of the material. In some nanostructured materials even inverse
Hall-Petch relation has been reported (i.e. decrease in strength with decrease in grain size).
 The usual mechanism suggested for this behaviour is the dislocation ‘pile-up’ mechanism*.

k  y → Yield stress [N/m2] or [MPa]

 y i   i → Stress to move a dislocation in single crystal [N/m2] or [MPa]
d  k → Locking parameter [N/m3/2] or [MPam]
(measure of the relative hardening contribution of grain boundaries)
Hall-Petch Relation  d → Grain diameter [m] (usually in the range of tens of m)

Grain size is related to the ASTM grain size number Hall-Petch constants
by the following formula Material i [MPa] k [MPa m1/2]
645  d → Grain diameter in meters Cu 25 0.11
d
(2 n 1 )1010  n → ASTM grain size number Ti 80 0.40
N  2( n 1) Mild steel 70 0.74
* other mechanisms have also been suggested. Ni3Al 300 1.70
 At the heart of the ‘pile up’ mechanism is a pile up of dislocations at a barrier (typically the
grain boundary).
 Dislocations get piled up at a barrier (say grain boundary) and produce a back stress. This
back stress impedes the motion of other dislocations on the same slip plane (towards the
boundary).

Dislocation pile up at grain boundary

Photo courtesy: Dr. Eswar Prasad (Johns Hopkins University, 2013). Mg alloy (AZ31, 3% Al , 1% Zn)

Q&A Q: What are equi-axed grains?

A: If all dimensions of the grain are comparable, such grains are called equiaxed grains. On rolling (or
some other deformation processes) the grain may become elongated and not all dimensions are equal.
Note: equiaxed is related to the shape of the grain. Isotropic is related to properties.
Strengthening Mechanism 4 Precipitation Hardening
 Precipitates may be coherent, semi-coherent or incoherent. Coherent (& semi-coherent)
precipitates are associated with coherency stresses.
 If the slip plane is continuous across the matrix through the precipitate, like in the case of a
coherent interface, the dislocation may glide through the precipitate (also called cutting
through the precipitate).
 Dislocations cannot glide through incoherent precipitates (get ‘pinned by the obstacle’).
 Inclusions behave similar to incoherent precipitates in this regard (precipitates are part of the
system, whilst inclusions are external to the alloy system).
 A pinned dislocation (at a precipitate) has to either climb over it (which becomes favourable
at high temperatures) or has to bow around it.
 A model precipitation hardening system is the Al-4 wt% Cu system. The details of the
precipitation hardening process is discussed in the chapter on phase transformations.

1
Glide through the precipitate If the precipitate is coherent* with the matrix
* Or is semi-coherent with some continuous planes
Dislocation
Get pinned by the precipitate
2
A complete list of factors giving rise to hardening due to precipitates/inclusions will be considered later
1 Dislocation Glide through the precipitate
 Only if slip plane is continuous from the matrix through the precipitate  precipitate is
coherent with the matrix.
 Stress to move the dislocation through the precipitate is ~ that to move it in the matrix
(though it is usually higher as precipitates can be intermetallic compounds).
 Usually during precipitation the precipitate is coherent (if the lattice misfit is small) only
when it is small and becomes incoherent on growth.
 Small
Growth
 Growth

Large
Coherent Partially coherent Incoherent
 Glide of the dislocation causes a displacement of the upper part of the precipitate w.r.t the
lower part by b → this is usually called cutting of the precipitate by the dislocation.
Schematic views
 edge dislocation glide through a coherent precipitate (shearing the
precipitate in the process). This is also called ‘cutting’ of the precipitate.

b Precipitate particle

b
If the particle is sheared, then how does the hardening effect come about?
 We have seen that as the dislocation glides through the precipitate it is sheared.
 If the precipitate is sheared, then how does it offer any resistance to the motion of the dislocation? I.e.
how can this lead to a hardening effect?
 The hardening effect due to a precipitate comes about due to many factors (many of which are system
specific). The important ones are listed in the tree below.

Increase in interface area due to particle shearing

Hardening effect
Part of the dislocation line segment (inside the precipitate) could
face a higher PN stress
2 Pinning effect of inclusions Orowan bowing mechanism

 Dislocations can bow around widely separated inclusions. In this process they leave
dislocation loops around the inclusions, thus leading to an increase in dislocation density.
This is known as the Orowan bowing mechanism as shown in the figure below. (This is in ‘some
sense’ similar to the Frank-Read mechanism).
 The maximum stress required to cause the bending between the pinning points is given by the formula below. More about this can be found
here: double ended Frank-Read source.
 The next dislocation arriving (similar to the first one), feels a repulsion from the dislocation
loop and hence the stress required to drive further dislocations increases. Additionally, the
effective separation distance (through which the dislocation has to bow) reduces from ‘d0’ to
‘d1’.

Gb
 max ~
d0

d0
The dislocation moves on
leaving behind loops around
precipitates
Precipitate Hardening effect (Complete List)

The hardening effect of precipitates can arise in many ways as below:

 Lattice Resistance: the dislocation may face an increased lattice friction stress in the
precipitate.
 Chemical Strengthening: arises from additional interface created on shearing
 Stacking-fault Strengthening: due to difference between stacking-fault energy between
particle and matrix when these are both FCC or HCP (when dislocations are split into
partials)
 Modulus Hardening: due to difference in elastic moduli of the matrix and particle
 Coherency Strengthening: due to elastic coherency strains surrounding the particle
 Order Strengthening: due to additional work required to create an APB in case of
dislocations passing through precipitates which have an ordered lattice
Strain rate effects
 We had noted that strain rate can vary by orders of magnitude depending on deformation
process (Creep: 10–8 /s to Explosions: 10–5 /s).
 Strain rate effects become significant (on properties like flow stress) only when strain rate is
varied by orders of magnitude (i.e. small changes in flow stress do not affect the value of the properties much).
 Strain rate can be related to dislocation velocity by the equation below.

   d b vd  vd → velocity of the dislocations

 d → density of mobile/glissile dislocations
 b → |b|
Funda Check In a UTT why does the plot not continue along OY (straight line)?

 When there are two (or more) competing mechanisms are available to respond to a stimulus
(say applied load which results in a stress state in the material), then the mechanism which operates at a
lower magnitude of the stimulus (stress in the current situation) operates (in preference to other competing
mechanisms).
 When stress is increased beyond the yield stress the mechanism of deformation changes.
 Till ‘Y’ in the s-e plot, bond elongation (elastic deformation) gives rise to the strain.
 After ‘Y’, the shear stress resulting from the applied tensile force, tends to move dislocations
(and cause slip)  rather than stretch bonds  as this will happen at lower stresses as
compared to bond stretching (beyond ‘Y’).
 If there are not dislocations (e.g. in a whisker) (and for now we ignore other mechanism of
deformation), the material will continue to load along the straight line OY  till dislocations
nucleate in the crystal.
 What are the internal mechanisms (with respect to plastic deformation by slip),
Funda Check
which oppose an externally applied force (and hence give rise to strengthening)?

Note: some of the below mechanisms may not be operative in all materials/may become
important only under some special circumstances (e.g. high strain rate).
These effects give rise to resistance to the motion of dislocations and are responsible for
strengthening.
 Basic internal resistance → Peierls stress.
 Hardening due to increase in dislocation density.
 Grain size strengthening.
 Solid solution hardening.
 Precipitation hardening.
 Phonon and Electron drag.
Yield Criteria
 We have seen that the most common method of yielding is by slip, which is mediated by
dislocations. At the ‘crystal structure level’ slip is initiated when  > PN.
 Slip at the macroscopic level in a UTT is supposed to begin when  > y.
 Under a general state of stress*, we would like to know when plastic deformation is initiated
and further would like to use the material parameter obtained from a UTT (i.e. y).
 Multiple theories of yield have been developed at various times. The most commonly used
ones are by Tresca (Maximum Shear Stress Condition) and von Mises (Distortion Energy
Density Condition). It is clear that shear stresses cause plastic deformation and hence the
acceptance of these ones.
 Some of these criteria are better suited for other modes of failure and not for yielding.

Maximum Principal Stress Rankine/Coulomb

Stress based
Maximum Shear Stress Tresca

Yield Criteria Strain Based Maximum Principal Strain St. Venant

Maximum Strain Energy Density Haigh Beltami

Energy Based
Maximum Distortion Energy Density von Mises (Maxwell, Huber, Hencky)
* The most general state of stress involves 6 independent components.
Yield Criterion Maximum Principal Stress

 Failure is supposed to take place if the maximum normal stress in the member reaches a
critical value.
 Since this criterion is expected to be true for any state of stress, it will be true for an uniaxial
tension test. Hence, this critical value is the yield stress obtained from an uniaxial tension
test (i.e. failure in this context implies the onset of plastic deformation).
 The maximum normal stress is one of the principal stresses.
 The yield stress in compression and tension is assumed to be equal and failure implies that
either 1 or 2 should exceed Y.
 This applicability of this criterion to yielding is rather limited and may be more valid for
fracture (wherein normal stresses play a key role).
Yield Criterion Maximum Shear Stress Tresca

 Failure is supposed to take place if the maximum value of the shear stress in the member
reaches a critical value. Further, we make the assumption that if this criterion is valid for any
stress state, it must be valid for that in a UTT and hence this critical value is obtained from
an uniaxial tension test (i.e. the value of shear stress at yield in a UTT).
 The shear stress at yield in a UTT is 1/2 (=max).
 This criterion is expected to have reasonable validity as shear stresses are responsible for
slip.

  1
 UTT   max   Cos 45 Cos 45   max   1   Y at yield
Cos Cos 2 2
TWINNING