The Strain and Grain Size Dependence of the Flow Stress of Copper

Tensile stress strain data for 99.999% copper at room and liquid nitrogen temperature as a function of grain size are presented together with some microstructural observations made by transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the flow stress data, at constant strain may be expressed in terms of a Hall-Petch relationship. At low strains an inhomogeneous distribution of dislocations is seen whilst at higher strains (0.1–0.2) a more regular cell structure begins to develop. This tends to have a minimum size near to grain boundaries. These microstructural observations are correlated with the mechanical test data.