Effect of strain rate and deformation temperature on strain hardening and softening behavior of pure copper

The effects of the deformation temperature and the strain rate on the hot deformation behavior of pure copper were investigated based on compression tests. The expressions of strain hardening rate, dynamic recrystallization critical stress, saturated stress, dynamic recovery volume fraction and dynamic recrystallization volume fraction were determined. According to the processing map, the instability regions occur in regions of 400?450 °C, 0.001?0.05 s?1 and 450?750 °C, 0.05?1 s?1. The deformation mechanism in the stability region is dynamic recrystallization. The flow stress was predicted. The results also show that the true stress–true strain curves predicted by the extracted model are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Strain Softening and Hardening Behavior in AZ61 Magnesium Alloy

The deformation behavior of AZ61 Mg alloy during hot deformation has been investigated in wide temperature and strain rate range by a Gleeble simulator. Specimens are deformed in compression in the temperature range of 523-673 K and at strain rates of 0.001-1 s-1. It is found that the flow curves exhibit a peak and then decrease towards steady-state of classical DRX, which decrease with rising temperature and decreasing strain rate. The deformation behavior of the specimens can be attributed to the occurrence of strain hardening and softening. As stress decreases, the strain hardening rate declines at a fast rate when temperature rises or strain rate decreases. The shapes of θ-σ curves indicate some important features such as subgrain formation, the criticai stress, the peak stress and steady stress. The onset of DRX can be determined by the point of inflection on θ-σ or Inθ-σ curves.

EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE ON THE HARDENING AND SOFTENING BEHAVIORS OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS PART Ⅰ:MICROMECHANICS CONSTITUTIVE MODELING

The effects of microstructure and its evolution on the macroscopic superelastic stress-strain response of polycrystalline Shape Memory Alloy(SMA)are studied by a microstructure-based constitutive model developed in this paper.The model is established on the following basis:(1)the transformation conditions of the unconstrained single crystal SMA microdomain(to be distinguished from the bulk single crystal),which serve as the local criterion for the derivation of overall transfor- mation yield conditions of the polycrystal;(2)the micro-to macro-transition scheme by which the connection between the polycrystal aggregates and the single crystal microdomain is established and the macroscopic transformation conditions of the polycrystal SMA are derived;(3)the quantitative incorporation of three microstruc- ture factors(i.e.,nucleation,growth and orientation distribution of martensite)into the modeling.These microstructural factors are intrinsic of specific polycrystal SMA systems and the role of each factor in the macroscopic constitutive response is quan- titatively modeled.It is demonstrated that the interplay of these factors will result in different macroscopic transformation kinematics and kinetics which are responsible for the observed macroscopic stress-strain hardening or softening response,the latter will lead to the localization and propagation of transformation bands in TiNi SMA.

EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE ON THE HARDENING AND SOFTENING BEHAVIORS OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS PART Ⅱ:NUMERICAL SIMULATION UNDER AXISYMMETRICAL LOADING

Based on the microstructure-based constitutive model established in Part Ⅰ,a detailed numerical investigation on the role of each microstructure pa- rameter in the kinematical and kinetic evolution of polycrystalline SMA under ax- isymmetrical tension loading is performed.Some macroscopic constitutive features of stress-induced martensite transformation are discussed.

Effect of strain hardening and strain softening on welding distortion and residual stress of A7N01-T4 aluminum alloy by simulation analysis

The effect of strain hardening and strain softening behavior of flow stress changing with temperature on welding residual stress, plastic strain and welding distortion of ATN0 1-T4 aluminum alloy was studied by finite simulation method. The simulation results show that the weld seam undergoes strain hardening in the temperature range of 180-250 ℃, however, it exhibits strain softening at temperature above 250 ℃ during welding heating and cooling process. As a result, the strain hardening and strain softening effects counteract each other, introducing slightly influence on the welding residual stress, residual plastic strain and distortion. The welding longitudinal residual stress was determined by ultrasonic stress measurement method for the flat plates of A7N01-T4 aluminum alloy. The simulation results are well accordant with test ones.

Unified simulation of hardening and softening effects for metals up to failure

Toward accurately simulating both hardening and softening effects for metals up to failure,a new finite strain elastoplastic J2-flow model is proposed with the yield strength therein as a function of the plastic work in the explicit form.With no need to identify any adjustable parameters,the uniaxial stress-strain response predicted from this new model is shown to automatically and accurately match any given data from monotonic uniaxial extension tests of bars.As such,the objectives in three respects are achieved for the first time,i.e.,(i)both the hardening and softening effects up to failure can be simulated in the sense of matching test data with no errors,(ii)the usual tedious implicit procedures toward identifying numerous unknown parameters need not be involved and can be totally bypassed,and(iii)the model applicability can be ensured in a broad sense for various metallic materials with markedly different transition effects from hardening to softening.With the new model,the complete response features of stretched bars and twisted tubes up to failure are studied,including the failure effects of bars under monotonic extension and tubes under monotonic torsion and,furthermore,the fatigue failure effects of bars under cyclic loading.The results show accurate agreement with the uniaxial data,and the results for both the shear stress and the normal stress at the finite torsion display realistic hardening-to-softening transition effects for the first time.

Stacking fault energy and electronic structure of molybdenum under solid solution softening/hardening

Ab initio calculations are used to understand the fundamental mechanism of the solid solution softening/hardening of the Mo-binary system.The results reveal that the Mo-Ti,Mo-Ta,Mo-Nb,and Mo-W interactions are primarily attractive with negative heats of formation,while the interactions of Mo-Re,and Mo-Zr would be mainly repulsive with positive heats of formation.It is also shown that the addition of Re and Zr would cause the solid solution softening of Mo by the decrease of the unstable stacking fault energy and the increase of ductility.On the contrary,the elements of W,Ta,Ti,and Nb could bring about the solid-solution hardening of Mo through the impediment of the slip of the dislocation and the decrease of ductility.Electronic structures indicate that the weaker/stronger chemical bonding due to the alloying elements should fundamentally induce the solid solution softening/hardening of Mo.The results are discussed and compared with available evidence in literatures,which could deepen the fundamental understanding of the solid solution softening/hardening of the binary metallic system.

APPROXIMATE ESTIMATION OF HARDENING-SOFTENING BEHAVIOUR OF CIRCULAR PIPES SUBJECTED TO PURE BENDING

An approximate method for describing the plastic hardening-softening behaviour of circular pipes subjected to pure bending is presented. Theoretical estimation based on the uniform ovalization model and local collapse model proposed in the paper is incorporated to give several simple formulations with reasonable accuracy for determining the relationship between bending moment (M) and curvature (kappa) in the purely bended pipes. Attention is focused on the critical curvature associated with maximum resistant moment and the maximum change in the original diameter before the end of uniform ovalization stage as well as the local collapse behaviour. Some comparisons between analytical results and experimental results are made in order to examine the theory.

A work-hardening and softening constitutive model for sand:modified plastic strain energy approach

The paper describes an energy-based constitutive model for sand, which is modified based on the modified plastic strain energy approach, represented by a unique relationship between the modified plastic strain energy and a stress parameter, independent of stress history. The modified plastic strain energy approach was developed based on results from a series of drained plastic strain compression tests along various stress paths on saturated dense Toyoura sand with accurate stress and strain measurements. The proposed model is coupled with an isotropically work-hardening and softening, non-associtated, elasto-plastic material description. The constitutive model concerns the inherent and stress system-induced cross-anisotropic elastic deformation properties of sand. It is capable of simulating the deformation characteristics of stress history and stress path, the effects of pressure level, anisotropic strength and void ratio, and the strain localization.

Cycling Hardening and Serration Yielding of Fe-Ni-Cr Alloy at High Temperature under Out-phase TMF

Behaviour of hardening and serration yield of a Fe-Ni-Cr alloy under isothermal cycling （ISC） and out-phase TMF was studied on the basis of varied hysteresis loops. Cycling hardening and serrated yielding for ISC depend on the temperature and the total strain range, stronger hardening with serrated yielding at higher strain range under ISC at 600 ℃, but no hardening and serrated yielding occurred under ISC at 800 ℃. Stronger hardening with stress serration occurred at the thermal path going to the lowest temperature, no stress serration occurred at the highest temperature under the out-phase. The hardening also depends on the total strain range, higher total strain range with lower cycling temperature resulted in a stronger hardening and remarkable serration yielding behavior. Weaker hardening without serrated yielding occurred at near 800℃ may due to an obvious cycling stress drop under out-phase TMF. Change in the shape of the hysteresis loops also expresses the degree of the damage of the tested alloy under out-phase and ISC.

Effect of Ti_(p) Content on the Work Hardening and Softening Behavior of Mg-Zn-Ca Alloy

The Ti_(p)/ZX60 composites with different Ti_(p) contents were prepared by semi-solid stirring casting.After extrusion,the microstructure,work hardening and softening behavior of the Ti_(p)/ZX60 composites were analyzed compared with the ZX60(Mg-6Zn-0.2Ca)alloy.The results showed that the addition of Ti_(p) could not only promote the nucleation of dynamic recrystallized(DRXed)grains,but also be propitious to the refinement of DRXed grains.With increasing Ti_(p) content,the size of DRXed grains decreased accompanied with increasing volume fraction of DRXed grains.As the Ti_(p) content increased to 15 vol.%,the average size and volume fraction of DRXed grains reached to~0.32μm and 93.2%,respectively.Besides,both the strength and elongation were improved by the addition of Ti_(p).With increasing content of Ti_(p),a substantial increase in the strength was achieved with little change in the elongation.However,the elongation decreased sharply when the Ti_(p) content further increased to 15 vol.%.The addition of Ti_(p) led to an increase in the work hardening rate,which gradually increased with increasing Ti_(p) content.However,the softening rate did not demonstrate the same tendency with increasing Ti_(p) content.Unlike the conventional ceramic particles,the Ti_(p) can be deformed in coordination with the matrix alloy,which imparted a higher softening rate to the matrix alloy.Even though the softening rate improved as the Ti_(p) content increased from 5 to 10 vol.%,it dropped deeply as the Ti_(p) content increased to 15 vol.%owing to the fracture of Ti_(p) during extrusion.

Low-cycle fatigue behavior of solutionized and aged WE43 magnesium alloys at room temperature

The low-cycle fatigue behavior of solutionized(T4)and aged(T6)WE43 magnesium alloys was studied at room temperature.The total strain amplitudes(△ε_(t)/2)were 0.4%,0.5%,0.6%,0.7%and 1.0%.Detailed microstructure evolution was characterized by scanning electron microscope(SEM),electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The results showed that plastic strain amplitude decreased with the increasing cycle number in T4 alloy,which is due to the dense persistent slip bands(PSBs)and dynamic precipitates hinderingdislocation slip.In contrast,the plastic strain amplitude increases gradually in T6 alloy,which is attributed to the enhanced activation of pyramidal slip.The low-cycle fatigue life of T6 alloy with larger fatigue ductility coefficient is longer than that of T4 alloy.The Coffin-Manson model can accurately predict the fatigue life of T4 and T6 alloys compared to Jahed-Varvani(JV)energy model.For T4 alloy,the fatigue damage mechanism was dominated by basal slip.For T6 alloy,the enhanced pyramidal slip plays an important role to accommodate plastic deformation.

CYCLIC SOFTENING IN HOT-WORKING DIE STEELS DURING LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE

The characteristics and microstructural changes of cyclic softening in hot-working die steels 5CrNiMo and 5Cr2NiMoVSi were studied under strain controlled low-cycle fatigue.The re- sults show that the cyclic softening is featured in both steels hardened in different conditions under the strain controlled amplitude range of Δε_t/2=0.6-1.8×10^(-2).The softening effect mainly occurs in some initial cycles and the stress amplitude varies slightly in the sequential cycles,i.e.the softening effect is minified.No obvious stress saturation phenomenon was ob- served during the whole cyclic deformation.The TEM analysis shows that the cyclic softening is related to heterogenity of plastic deformation.The softening of the tested steels is caused by the formation of the dislocation cell structure with low density and low internal stress,and by the fragmentation and redissolution of fine carbides into matrix.

Constitutive Model for Multiaxial Ratcheting Predictions of Cyclic Softening Weld Metal

A series of fully reversed axial, torsional strain-controlled cyclic tests and two multiaxial ratcheting tests were conducted on weld metal specimens using an Instron8521 tension-torsional servo-controlled testing machine. The weld metal showed clear cyclic softening under axial, torsional and multiaxial loading. A modified kinematic hardening rule was proposed in which a multiaxial-loading-dependent parameter incorporated the radial evanescence term of the Burlet-Cailletaud mode with the Ohno-Wang kinematic hardening rule to predict the multiaxial ratcheting effects. The introduction of yield stress evolved with accumulated plasticity strain enables the model to predict cyclic plasticity behavior of cyclic softening or cyclic hardening materials. Thus modified model considers the isotropic hardening as well as kinematic hardening of yield surface, and it can present description of plasticity behavior and ratcheting of cyclic softening and cyclic hardening materials well under multiaxial loading.

Analysis of pile load-transfer under pile-side softening

A set of analytical equations for the variation of the axial force along depth and the pile-top load-settle-ment curve were established, using tri-linear softening model to pile-side soil and bilinear hardening model to pile-end soil . Influences of the pile-side and pile-end soil behavior on the load-settlement curve were discussed, indica-ting that the lowering reason for the variation step degree of the axial force along depth is the softening of the pile-side soil to result in the side friction lowering when the pile-top load is increased. To verify the reliability of thismethod, the parameters used in calculation are obtained from the test in Zhuzhou area. The obtained results are thencompared with the tested results. Contrast shows that the calculated results and the tested values are very close,which illustrates that the proposed method is reliable.

HARDENING BEHAVIOUR OF STAINLESS STEEL 316 DURING FATIGUE WITH THERMAL PULSE

The softening of stainless steel 316 of non-detectable difference in magnitude induced by thermal pulse was found during fatigue with strain amplitude of 1.17×10^(-4) in temperature range of 333—573K.And it occurred if the measurements of fatigue with thermal pulse were performed in range of 333—503K.However,it will become of the hardening in range of 503 —573K.The temperature,at which hardening of the steel induced by thermal pulse emerges in fatigue process,increases with the increasing in strain amplitudes.

THERMALLY CYCLING AND MIXED GAS CARBONIZING

This paper introduces a new approach to metal surface hardening. By utilizing thermally cycling and mixed agents to speed up diffusion of diffusing elements, the carbonizing rate is greatly enhanced and the structure of the strengthened case is more satisfactory, thus obtaining much longer services of machine parts. The mechanism of the new approach is discussed.

Degradation of Pore Structure and Microstructures in Hardened Cement Paste Subjected to Flexural Loading and Wet-dry Cycles in Sea Water

Hardened cement paste was subjected to the flexural loading and wet-dry cycles in sea water. The degradation of microstructures was obtained using scanning electron microscope （SEM）, and the energy dispersive spectrum （EDS） analysis was carried to analyze the local composition. Mercury intrusion porosimetry （Poremaster GT-60） was used to analyze the degradation of pore structures. The experimental results show that the synergistic action of the flexural loading, wet-dry cycles and sea water leads to significant deterioration of hardened cement paste. The degradation of microstructures in the tensile region is more serious than that in the compressive region. The flexural loading and wet-dry cycles accelerate the chemical attack of sea water.

Softening interstage annealing of austenitic stainless steel sheets for stamping processes

To study the mechanics of work-hardening and annealing-softening, a series of experiments were conducted on samples of 304 austenitic stainless steel sheets. In addition, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, and tensile testing were carried out to study changes and mechanisms of the stainless steel structures and properties during work-hardening and annealing-softening. The results indicate that annealing at low temperatures （100-500 ~C） can only remove partial residual stresses in the sample and the softening via annealing is not obvious. Bright annealing and rapid cooling in a protective atmosphere can completely soften the cold-worked material. In addition, the low-temperature sample without a protective atmosphere only has a little oxidation on the surface, but at higher temperature the oxidized layer is very thick. Thus, high-temperature annealing should include bright annealing.

Improved Approach to Determine the Material Parameters for a Combined Hardening Model

For the simulation of isothermal mechanically loaded components, it is indispensable to have a material model, which describes the material behavior very accurately. In this case, a combined hardening model was chosen in order to reflect the prevalent deformation behavior. The combined hardening model enables simulation independent of the number of load cycles and the chosen strain amplitude. The main point is the declaration of the parameters from the chosen material model. This work deals with the estimation of the parameters. For validation and as input data of the here defined approach low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were performed on cast aluminum and at 250°C. The comparison of the test results and the simulations indicated that σmax from the simulated hysteresis lies inside a range of ±5% referred to the test results.