The Effect of Grain Size and Strain on the Tensile Flow Stress of Aluminium at Room Temperature

Tensile-stress-strain data over a strain range from 0.2 to 30% were obtained at room temperature for 99.999 and 99.5% aluminium as a function of grain size. The yield stress-grain size relationship can be expressed by a Petch-Hall relation with approximately the same slope for the two materials. The flow stress-grain size relationship can adequately be expressed by a modified Petch-Hall relation; for 99.999% aluminium material the slope increases with strain through a maximum around 15–20%, whereas for 99.5% aluminium the slope decreases with the strain to zero at strains about 10%. The flow stress-grain size relationship was analyzed in terms of matrix strengthening and grain boundary strengthening according to the dislocation concept of Ashby. At intermediate strains this approach gives a good description of the effect of strain, grain size and purity on the flow stress.