The instability of plastic flow of metals at very low temperatures

Abstract

The low-temperature unstable plastic deformation of aluminium alloys is described. It is shown that discontinuities in the stress-strain curve are caused by a localized temperature rise produced during the deformation. The calculated magnitudes of the drops in load and the transition temperature between smooth and discontinuous flow agree reasonably well with the experimental observations. It is believed that all metals should exhibit unstable deformation at sufficiently low temperatures.