Strengthening Mechanisms
Hitesh Basitti
2017pmt5094
Strength of Material can be increased by hindering dislocation, which is
responsible for plastic deformation.
Dislocation: A displacement of part of a crystal lattice structure.
"dislocations are present due to the accidents of imperfect growth"
Different ways to hinder dislocation motion/Strengthening mechanisms:
In single-phase materials
Grain size reduction
Solid solution strengthening
Strain hardening
In multi-phase materials
Precipitation strengthening
Dispersion strengthening
Martensite strengthening
Ordinarily ductility is sacrificed when an alloy is strengthened.
The relationship between dislocation motion and mechanical behavior
of metals is significance to the understanding of strengthening
mechanisms.
The ability of a metal to plastically deform depends on the ability of
dislocations to move.
Virtually all strengthening techniques rely on this simple principle:
Restricting or Hindering dislocation motion renders a material harder
and stronger.
Strengthening by Grain size reduction
Grain boundaries are barriers to slip.
• Barrier "strength" increases with Increasing angle of misorientation.
• Smaller grain size: more barriers to slip
It is based on the fact that
dislocations will experience hindrances
while trying to move from a grain into
the next because of abrupt change in
orientation of planes.
Yield strength is related to grain size
(diameter, d) as Hall-Petch relation: Adapted from Fig. 7.14, Callister 7e.
(Fig. 7.14 is from A Textbook of
Materials Technology, by Van Vlack,
Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle
River, NJ.)
Strengthening by Grain size reduction (Contd…)
Grain Size Reduction Techniques:
•Increase Rate of solidification from the liquid phase.
•Perform Plastic deformation followed by an appropriate heat treatment.
Notes:
Grain size reduction also improves toughness of many alloys.
Small-angle grain boundaries are not effective in interfering with the slip
process because of the small crystallographic misalignment across the
boundary.
Boundaries between two different phases are also impediments to
movements of dislocations.
Solid solution strengthening
Impurity atoms distort the lattice & generate stress.
Stress can produce a barrier to dislocation motion.
Impure foreign atoms in a single phase material produces lattice strains which can
anchor the dislocations.
Effectiveness of this strengthening depends on two factors–size difference and
volume fraction of solute.
Solute atoms interact with dislocations in many ways:
elastic interaction
modulus interaction
stacking-fault interaction
electrical interaction
short-range order interaction
long-range order interaction
Elastic, modulus, and long-range order interactions are of long-range i.e. they are
relatively insensitive to temperature and continue to act about 0.6Tm.
Stress Concentration at Dislocations
Adapted from Fig. 7.4, Callister 7e.
Strengthening by Alloying
• Small impurities tend to concentrate at dislocations on the “Compressive stress side”
• Reduce mobility of dislocation increase strength
Adapted from Fig. 7.17, Callister 7e.
Large impurities concentrate at dislocations on “Tensile Stress” side – pinning dislocation
Adapted from Fig. 7.18, Callister 7e.
e.g. : Solid Solution Strengthening in Copper
Tensile strength & yield strength increase with wt% Ni
Empirical relation:
Alloying increases YS and TS.
Strain hardening
• Phenomenon where ductile metals become stronger and harder when they are
deformed plastically is called strain hardening or work hardening.
• Increasing temperature lowers the rate of strain hardening. Hence materials are strain
hardened at low temperatures, thus also called cold working.
• During plastic deformation, dislocation density increases. And thus their interaction
with each other resulting in increase in yield stress.
• Dislocation density (ρ) and shear stress (τ) are related as follows:
Strain hardening (contd…)
During strain hardening, in addition to mechanical properties, physical properties
also changes:
A small decrease in density
An appreciable decrease in electrical conductivity
Small increase in thermal coefficient of expansion
Increased chemical reactivity (decrease in corrosion resistance).
Deleterious effects of cold work can be removed by heating the material to
suitable temperatures–Annealing.
It restores the original properties into material. It consists of three stages–
recovery, recrystallization and grain growth.
In industry, alternate cycles of strain hardening and annealing are used to deform
most metals to a very great extent.
Impact of Cold Work
As cold work is increased …….
• Yield strength (YS) increases.
• Tensile strength (TS) increases.
• Ductility (%EL or %AR) decreases.
For Low-Carbon Steel, Adapted from Fig.
7.20, Callister 7e.
Cold Work Analysis
What is the tensile strength and ductility after cold working?
Copper
Cold
Work
D o =15.2mm D d =12.2mm
2 2
ro rd
%CW x 100 35.6%
2
ro
Cold Work Analysis
What is the tensile strength and ductility after cold working?
yield strength (MPa) tensile strength (MPa) ductility (%EL)
60
700 800
40
500 600
Cu
300 Cu 400 340MPa 20
Cu 7%
100
0 20 40 60 200 00
0 20 40 60 20 40 60
% Cold Work % Cold Work % Cold Work
YS = 300 MPa TS = 340MPa %EL = 7%
Adapted from Fig. 7.19, Callister 7e. (Fig. 7.19 is adapted from Metals Handbook: Properties and Selection: Iron
and Steels, Vol. 1, 9th ed., B. Bardes (Ed.), American Society for Metals, 1978, p. 226; and Metals Handbook:
Properties and Selection: Nonferrous Alloys and Pure Metals, Vol. 2, 9th ed., H. Baker (Managing Ed.), American
Society for Metals, 1979, p. 276 and 327.)
Effect of Heating After %CW
• 1 hour treatment at Tanneal...
decreases TS and increases %EL.
• Effects of cold work are reversed!
annealing temperature (ºC)
100 200 300 400 500 600 700
600 60 • 3 Annealing
tensile strength (MPa)
tensile strength stages to
ductility (%EL)
50
500 discuss...
40 Adapted from Fig. 7.22, Callister 7e. (Fig.
7.22 is adapted from G. Sachs and K.R. van
Horn, Practical Metallurgy, Applied Metallurgy,
400 30 and the Industrial Processing of Ferrous and
Nonferrous Metals and Alloys, American Society
for Metals, 1940, p. 139.)
ductility 20
300
Recovery
Annihilation reduces dislocation density.
• Scenario 1 extra half-plane
of atoms Dislocations
Results from
annihilate
diffusion atoms
and form
diffuse
a perfect
to regions
atomic
of tension
plane.
extra half-plane
of atoms
• Scenario 2
tR
3 . “Climbed” disl. can now
move on new slip plane
2 . grey atoms leave by
4. opposite dislocations
vacancy diffusion
meet and annihilate
allowing disl. to “climb”
1. dislocation blocked; Obstacle dislocation
can’t move to the right
Recrystallization
• New grains are formed that:
-- have a low dislocation density
-- are small
-- consume cold-worked grains.
0.6 mm 0.6 mm
Adapted from
Fig. 7.21 (a),(b),
Callister 7e.
(Fig. 7.21 (a),(b)
are courtesy of
J.E. Burke,
General Electric
Company.)
33% cold New crystals
worked nucleate after
brass 3 sec. at 580C.
Further Recrystallization
• All cold-worked grains are consumed.
0.6 mm 0.6 mm
Adapted from
Fig. 7.21 (c),(d),
Callister 7e.
(Fig. 7.21 (c),(d)
are courtesy of
J.E. Burke,
General Electric
Company.)
After 4 After 8
seconds seconds
Recrystallization Temperature, TR
TR = recrystallization temperature = point of highest rate of
property change
1. TR 0.3-0.6 Tm (K)
2. Due to diffusion annealing time TR = f(t)
shorter annealing time => higher TR
3. Higher %CW => lower TR – strain hardening
4. Pure metals lower TR due to dislocation movements
• Easier to move in pure metals => lower TR
Grain Growth
• At longer times, larger grains consume smaller ones.
• Why? Grain boundary area (and therefore energy)
is reduced.
0.6 mm 0.6 mm
Adapted from
Fig. 7.21 (d),(e),
Callister 7e.
(Fig. 7.21 (d),(e)
are courtesy of
J.E. Burke,
General Electric
Company.)
After 8 s, After 15 min,
580ºC 580ºC
coefficient dependent on
• Empirical Relation: material & Temp.
exponent typ. ~ 2
elapsed time
grain dia. At time t.
d d Kt
n n
o This is: Ostwald Ripening
º
TR = recrystallization
temperature
TR
Adapted from Fig.
7.22, Callister 7e.
º
Precipitation & Dispersion hardening
Foreign particles can also obstructs movement of dislocations i.e. increases the
strength of the material.
Foreign particles can be introduced in two ways– precipitation and mixing – and
–consolidation technique.
Precipitation hardening is also called age hardening because strength increases
with time.
Requisite for precipitation hardening is that second phase must be soluble at an
elevated temperature but precipitates upon quenching and aging at a lower
temperature.
e.g.: Al-alloys, Cu-Be alloys, Mg-Al alloys, Cu-Sn alloys
If aging occurs at room temperature – Natural aging
If material need to be heated during aging – Artificial aging.
Precipitation & Dispersion hardening (contd..)
In dispersion hardening, fine second particles are mixed with matrix powder,
consolidated, and pressed in powder metallurgy techniques.
For dispersion hardening, second phase need to have very low solubility at all
temperatures.
e.g.: oxides, carbides, nitrides, borides, etc.
Dislocation moving through matrix embedded with foreign particles can either
cut through the particles or bend around and by pass them.
Cutting of particles is easier for small particles which can be considered as
segregated solute atoms.
Effective strengthening is achieved in the bending process, when the particles
are submicroscopic in size.
Adapted from Fig. 11.22, Callister .
Schematic temperature-versus-time plot
showing both solution and precipitation
heat treatments for precipitation
hardening.
Adapted from Fig. 11.23, Callister .
Schematic diagram showing strength
and hardness as a function of the logarithm
of aging time at constant temperature
during the precipitation heat treatment.
Martensite strengthening
This strengthening method is based on formation of martensitic phase from the
retained high temperature phase at temperatures lower then the equilibrium
invariant transformation temperature.
Martensite forms as a result of shearing of lattices.
Martensite plate lets assumes characteristic lenticular shape that minimizes the
elastic distortion in the matrix.
These platelets divide and subdivide the grains of the parent phase. Always
touching but never crossing one another.
Martensite platelets grow at very high speeds (1/3rd of sound speed) i.e.
activation energy for grow this less. Thus volume fraction of martensite exist is
controlled by its nucleation rate.
Martensite strengthening (contd…)
Martensite platelets attain their shape by two successive shear displacements-first
displacement is a homogeneous shear through out the plate which occurs parallel
to a specific plane in the parent phase known as the habit plane, second
displacement, the lesser of the two, can take place by one of two mechanisms: slip
as in Fe-C martensite or twinning as in Fe-Ni Martensite.
Martensite formation occurs in many systems.
e.g.: Fe-C, Fe-Ni, Fe-Ni-C, Cu-Zn, Au-Cd, and even in pure metals like Li, Zr and
Co. However, only the alloys based on Fe and C show a pronounced
strengthening effect.
High strength of Martensite is attributed to its characteristic twin structure and to
high dislocation density. In Fe-C system, carbon atoms are also involved in
strengthening.
End
