At extreme strain rates, pure metals thermally harden while alloys thermally soften

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Dowding, Ian, Schuh, Christopher A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Dowding, Ian
Schuh, Christopher A.
author_facet Dowding, Ian
Schuh, Christopher A.
contents When materials are deformed at extreme strain rates, greater than $10^6 \text{ s}^{-1}$, a counterintuitive mechanical response is seen where the strength and hardness of pure metals increases with increasing temperature. The anti-thermal hardening is due to defects in the material becoming pinned by phonons in the crystal lattice. However, here, using optically driven microballistic impact testing to measure the dynamic strength and hardness, we show that when the composition is systematically varied away from high purity, the mechanical response of metals transitions from ballistic transport of dislocations back to thermally activated pinning of dislocations, even at the highest strain rates. This boundary from "hotter-is-stronger" to "hotter-is-softer" is observed and mapped for nickel, titanium, and gold. The ability to tune between deformation mechanisms with very different temperature dependencies speaks to new directions for alloy design in extreme conditions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_02000
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle At extreme strain rates, pure metals thermally harden while alloys thermally soften
Dowding, Ian
Schuh, Christopher A.
Materials Science
When materials are deformed at extreme strain rates, greater than $10^6 \text{ s}^{-1}$, a counterintuitive mechanical response is seen where the strength and hardness of pure metals increases with increasing temperature. The anti-thermal hardening is due to defects in the material becoming pinned by phonons in the crystal lattice. However, here, using optically driven microballistic impact testing to measure the dynamic strength and hardness, we show that when the composition is systematically varied away from high purity, the mechanical response of metals transitions from ballistic transport of dislocations back to thermally activated pinning of dislocations, even at the highest strain rates. This boundary from "hotter-is-stronger" to "hotter-is-softer" is observed and mapped for nickel, titanium, and gold. The ability to tune between deformation mechanisms with very different temperature dependencies speaks to new directions for alloy design in extreme conditions.
title At extreme strain rates, pure metals thermally harden while alloys thermally soften
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02000