Lecture 3.

Wok Hardening and Strain Aging

[I] Work Hardening (or Strain Hardening)

1. Introduction
- As metal are deformed plastically at temperature below
recrystallization, strength and hardness increase → work
hardening is strengthening by cold rolling
- Most common method used to describe work hardening behavior
in quantitative way is by means of tensile test. Other tests are
compression, torsion, and bulge testing
- Major emphasis in this lecture will be place upon change in yield
strength resulting from cold working
2. Uniaxial tensile test
- Typical load extension curve is shown in Fig.1

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- Force, F, is required to cause given extension, ∆ℓ. From these data, values of
stress and strain are computed.

Fig.1

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3. Mechanical properties
From Fig.1,

S = F/A0 (1)
e = (ℓ-ℓ0)/ℓ0 = ∆ℓ/ℓ0 (2)
yield strength, Y = Fy/A0 = Sy (3)

ultimate strength, Su = Fu/A0 (4)

% elongation = 100(ℓf-ℓ0)/ℓ = El (5)
% reduction of area (r) = 100(A0-Af)/A0 r = (A0-A)/A0 (6)

Offset method of defining yield stress (Fig.2)

It is difficult to define where

Fig.2 initial plastic deformation takes
place→ using offset method

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4. Comparison of nominal and true stress-strain curves

Fig.3 shows nominal stress-strain curve.

True strain, de=dℓ/ℓ or e = ln(1+e) (7)
True stress, σ = F/A or σ = S(1+e) (8)
de = -dA/A or e = lnA0/A (9)

Fig.3

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5. Determining work hardening expression

- Strain hardening behavior

σ = K en (10)
using Eq(6),

e = ln{1/(1-r)} (11)
(r = reduction of area)

Ex) If plastic behavior of a certain metal is shown as

σ = 100,000e0.5, reduction area r = 0.3, estimate yield strength of
cold worked piece.

e = ln{1/(1-r)} = ln{1/(1-0.3)} = 0.357

σYS = Ken = 100,000(0.357)0.5 = 59.749 psi

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-Power law expression
stress-strain data are plotted on logarithmic coordinates in Fig.4.

Fig.4

Zone I : σ = Ee1.0 (elastic)

Zone II : σ = Ken (plastic)
Showing pronounced yield point
Zone III : fully plastic condition, from
this point to necking, slope of this line
defines strain hardening exponent, n

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[II] Strain Aging

1. Definition
- strain aging is changes in properties of metal that occur
by interaction of point defects and dislocations during
or after plastic deformation
* static strain aging: property changes after deformation
* dynamic strain aging: property changes during
deformation
- strain aging is valuable and economical means of
strengthening steels

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2. Static Aging
 Property changes are measured in uniaxial tension test

∆σts

∆σys
Stress, σ

unaged
∆ε
Reload (aged)
prestrain

Strain, ε

 Specimen is strained amount in excess of yield point elongation

→ unloaded → aged at constant temperature → then reloaded to
fracture,
Aging effects are ① increase in yield stress, ∆σys 8
② return of yield point elongation and increase in strain with
increased aging time
③ increase in tensile strength, ∆σts
④ deccrease in tatal elongation, ∆ε

● Strain aging in iron and steel at temperature below 100 ℃ is almost

due to N but C is too low to produce any appreciable aging effects
* if N is removed by precipitates as AlN, steel is made “non-strain
aging”

● Mechanism for return of yield point and increase in yield stress

provided by Cottrell-Billby model

① solute atoms firmly pin dislocations during strain aging

② dislocations are pinned at upper yield stress during
reloading (σ-ε curve)
③ rather, new dislocations are generated at site of stress concentration
such as grain boundary or solute interfaces
④ dislocation density is greater if aging step is interposed than if strain
is applied continuously
⑤ consequently work hardening is increased 9
3. Dynamic Strain Aging

• For dynamic aging occurring during deformation, solute

atom must be able to make diffusive jump while alloy is
being deformed and therefore this process is sensitive
to temperature and strain rate
• Dynamic aging has some distinctive characteristics;
- high rate of work hardening
- flow stress has negative strain rate dependence, that is,
if strain is increased, flow stress decreases
- stress-strain curve is serrated

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• Comparison between static and dynamic strain aging of
low C steels

- dynamic strain aging shows serration but static strain aging

shows no serration
- dynamic strain aging reveals higher stress
- thus, dynamic strain aging is much more effective in
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strengthening steels
 Mechanism of increased work hardening

- when temperature is raised into dynamic strain aging region,

dislocations generated are quickly pinned so that other dislocations
must be generated during continuous deformation
- as result, dislocation density at given strain for dynamic state is
higher than for static state.
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Why serrations occur?

●
●
●
σ

solute unlocks dislocation

Since solute atom mobility is high at temperature at which

discontinuous yielding occurs, new atoms move to
dislocations and lock them.

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 One of most prominent aspects of strain aging is
reduction in ductility and fracture toughness

- magnitude of loss of toughness is about proportional

to concentration of interstitial solutes

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