Strain Rate Contribution due to Dynamic Recovery of Ultrafine-Grained Cu–Zr as Evidenced by Load Reductions during Quasi-Stationary Deformation at 0.5 Tm

Abstract

During quasi-stationary tensile deformation of ultrafine-grained Cu-0.2 mass%Zr at 673 K and a deformation rate of about e - 4 / s load changes were performed. Reductions of relative load by more than about 25% initiate anelastic back flow. Subsequently, the creep rate turns positive again and goes through a relative maximum. This is interpreted by a strain rate component ϵ ˙ - associated with dynamic recovery of dislocations. Back extrapolation indicates that ϵ ˙ - contributes the same fraction of ( 20 ± 10 ) % to the quasi-stationary strain rate that has been reported for coarse-grained materials with high fraction of low-angle boundaries; this suggests that dynamic recovery of dislocations is generally mediated by boundaries. The influence of anelastic back flow on ϵ ˙ - is discussed. Comparison of ϵ ˙ - to the quasi-stationary rate points to enhancement of dynamic recovery by internal stresses. Subtraction of ϵ ˙ - from the total rate yields the rate component ϵ ˙ + related with generation and storage of dislocations; its activation volume is in the order expected from the classical theory of thermal glide.