Strengthening mechanism

Strengthening Mechanism
• Plastic deformation occurs when large numbers
of dislocations move and multiply
• As a result macroscopic deformation takes
place.
• To enhance a material's mechanical properties
(i.e. increase the yield and tensile strength)
• It is needed to introduce a mechanism which
prohibits the mobility of these dislocations and
render the material stronger than previously.
• The stress required to cause dislocation
motion is orders of magnitude lower than
the theoretical stress required to shift an
entire plane of atoms,
• Hence, the hardness and strength (both
yield and tensile) critically depend on the
ease with which dislocations move
• Solid solution strengthening
• Precipitation or Dispersion Strengthening
• (includes reinforced with strong fibers)
• Grain size refinement
• Substructure formation
• Strain or Work hardening
• Strain aging
 Solid solution Strengthening
• For this strengthening mechanism, solute
atoms of one element are added to
another, resulting in either substitutional or
interstitial point defects in the crystal (see
Figure 1).
• The solute atoms cause lattice distortions
that impede dislocation motion, increasing
the yield stress of the material.
Solid Solution Strengthening
 Elastic Interaction/Cottrell locking
• The interaction of the stress field around
dislocation and solute atoms can occur
• This results in lowering the energy of the
system/dislocations
• The strain energy of a dislocation can be
relieved by repositioning of the atoms
around the dislocation
• Iron containing C&N shows a strong
interactions
 Solid solution strengthening
• Elastic Interaction
• When both the dislocation and solute
atoms are present in the lattice
• Interaction of both the stress fields result
in lowering the strain energy of the
system.
• Lattice parameter of the upper region can
be reduced and lower region increased
• Solute atoms have stress fields around them
which can interact with those of dislocations.
• The presence of solute atoms impart
compressive or tensile stresses to the lattice,
depending on solute size,
• Which interfere with nearby dislocations,
causing the solute atoms to act as,
• Potential barriers to dislocation propagation
and/or multiplication
 Chemical Interaction
• When a perfect dislocation dissociate into two
partials
• A ribbon of stacking fault formed which changes
the stacking sequence or crystal structure locally
• In FCC structure the faulted region is CPH
structure and vice versa
• Alloy chemistry and thermodynamics suggest
that the concentration of solute atoms in the
faulted region is different from the surrounding
• Since stacking fault energy varies with
alloy composition
• After redistribution of alloying element in
the faulted region
• The width may be expected to alter
• This heterogeneous distribution of solute
atoms around a dislocation may be
regarded as chemical interaction
• This effect is often referred as suzuki
effect
• Experimental verification of this effect is
difficult
• However, it is suggested that locking force
is estimated to be 1/10th of that due to
cotterel locking
• Electrical interaction
• Two solute atoms which dissolve in a
solvent crystal with same degrees of
misfit
• May still harden the solid solution to
different extent if their valences are not the
same.
 Geometrical interaction
• Geometrical interaction;
• Ordered solid solution
• (Two types)
• Long range ordered solid solution
• Short range ordered solid solution
• In an ordered solid solution any given atom
prefers to have unlike atoms as its neighbors
• Consequently a process of slip require a very
high stress in ordered solid solution.
•
 Geometrical interaction

• Dislocation moves in pairs (Super lattice

dislocation) in order solid solution
• In long range ordered super lattice dislocation
reduced the strength in comparison to short
range ordered
• Because first dislocation produce disorder and
the second dislocation produced order.
• In short range order solid solution strength
increases because the single dislocation pass
through the crystal and produced disorder.
 Precipitation or Dispersion
Strengthening
• Dispersion Hardening: particles are
introduced mechanically by dispersing
them in the melt.e.g sintered alumina
powder (SAP),TD in Ni or Co alloy
• Precipitation Hardening:
Thermal treatment, decomposition of
supersaturated solid solution---Zones---
intermediate precipitate---equilibrium
precipitate.
• Zones: solid rich clusters within matrix
lattice, fully coherent
• Intermediate precipitate: may be partially
coherent
• Equilibrium precipitate: Normally non
coherent
• Strengthening occurs when a moving
dislocation impinges on the particles.
• Depending on strength dislocation may be
able to cut or forced to loop around them.
• Limitation of service temperature for
precipitation hardening.
 Grain boundaries
• High angle grain boundaries
• Low angle grain boundaries
• Act as a barriers to dislocation movement
• Yield stress and grain size have been
found to be related by the Hall-Patch
relationship for a wide range of metals and
alloys
Low angle Grain Boundaries
• Work hardening, strain hardening, or cold
work is the strengthening of a material by
increasing the material's dislocation density.
• In metallic crystals, irreversible deformation is
usually carried out on a microscopic scale by
defects called dislocations,
• which are created by fluctuations in local
stress fields within the material culminating in a
lattice rearrangement as the dislocations
propagate through the lattice.
• At normal temperatures the dislocations
are not annihilated by annealing.
• Instead, the dislocations interact with one
another, and serve as pinning points or
obstacles (Lommer cotteral barrier) that
significantly impede their motion.
• This leads to an increase in the
yield strength of the material.
 Strain Aging
• Annealed specimen of mild steel is
deformed then unload.
• Heat the specimen at 200oc for at least
one hour or
• Holding for several hours at room
temperature. Resulted in
• The increase in yield stress and drop in
yield stress can reappear.
Creep curve
 Creep
• Transient or primary stage of creep: creep
rate decreases with time.
• Second stage creep: creep rates remains
constant during this stage.
• Tertiary creep: creep rates accelerates
during this .
• Fracture finally takes place at the rupture
strain and time.
• The presence of any of the stage of creep
is a function of
• Stress, temperature and material structure
• For full understanding of creep a
relationship between strain and ti me
including the effect of stress, stress state,
temperature, microstructure, composition
and environment.
• To establish such a relationship the matter
is quite complex.
• It is therefore proposed that mechanism of
deformation during creep stages are
discussed.
• Mechanism of creep deformation in
literature is vast one.
• A few important of them will be discussed.
 Major mechanism
• Dislocation glide
• Diffusion creep
• Grain boundary sliding
• Irradiation creep
• Thermal cycling creep
• Chemical interaction
• The ribbon of stacking fault changes the crystal
structure locally. (alloy chemistry and
thermodynamics also changes)
• The solute atoms concentration in the faulted
layer will be different from that in the surrounding
matrix.
• Since stacking fault energy varies with alloy
composition ,after redistribution the fault width
may be expected to alter.