Influence of Niobium on the Beginning of the Plastic Flow of Material during Cold Deformation
Investigations were conducted on low-carbon steel and the steel with same chemical composition with addition of microalloying element niobium. While tensile testing was carried out, the thermographic measurement was tacking place simultaneously. A specific behavior of niobium microalloyed steel was noticed. Test results have shown that, in the elastic deformation region, thermoelastic effect occurs, which is more pronounced in niobium microalloyed steel. Start of plastic flow in steel which is not microalloyed with niobium begins later in comparison to the microalloyed steel, and it is conducted so that, at the point of maximum stress, deformation zone is formed within which stresses grow. In steel microalloyed with niobium after proportionality limit, comes the occurrence of the localized increase in temperature and the occurrence of Lüders band, which propagate along the sample forming a deformation zone.
Effect of strain rate on Lüders band propagating velocity and Lüders strain for annealed mild steel under uniaxial tension
For annealed mild steel that exhibits yield-point phenomena under uniaxial tension, physical equations expressing the strain-rate dependencies of the strain and the Luders-band velocity have been proposed in this work. In these expressions, both the Luders strain and the Luders-band velocity increase with gauge-length strain rate in the form of exponent functions. The proposed equations have been verified by our experimental data of uniaxial tension on mild steels, as well as by those reported by some other researchers. The proposed equations may provide a simple method to determine the stress-rate sensitivity exponent, in the equation of stress-dependent dislocation velocity, which is usually difficult to be measured by experiments.
Neutron Residual Stress Measurements on Rail Sections for Different Production Conditions
Rail sectioning with subsequent neutron diffraction experiments has been used to assess residual stresses in the rails. In this study we present the results of neutron stress measurements performed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) on rail sections from rails that were produced under various conditions. Specifically, these are air-cooled, air-cooled and roller-straightened, head-hardened and head-hardened and roller-straightened. More significantly, a head-hardened and roller-straightened rail was also studied after service to elucidate evolution of the service-induced residual stresses. In the latter case both a transverse-cut slice and the central region of a 0.53 m long piece were studied. Measurements on this piece are the first in which triaxial stresses have been determined for an intact rail. Neutron strain measurements with 3×3×3 mm3 spatial resolution were successfully employed for transversally cut slices to verify the difference in the stress state depending on the production process. Although examination of slices allows determination of only two-dimensional stresses in the plane of the slice, additional measurements on obliquely-cut slices, which were also carried out, and utilization of FEM gives the possibility of reconstructing the full triaxial stress distribution. Together, these approaches provide a better understanding of rail fabrication and the possibility of improving the durability and safety of rails in the future.Copyright © 2004 by ASME