Effect of prior cold rolling and test temperature on stress-strain rate behaviour of a Zr-2.5Nb alloy

Abstract

Zr-2.5 wt% Nb alloy sheet, obtained by unfolding and straightening a pressure tube, was further cold rolled upto 39% reduction in thickness to investigate the effect of cold working on the stress (σ)-strain rate (έ) behaviour over a strain rate range of ∼2 × 10−5 to 5 × 10−3 s−1 and a temperature range of 625 to 700 °C. Irrespective of the amount of rolling, the log σ vs log έ plots exhibit superplastic behaviour with strain rate sensitivity index, m, as high as 0.8, which decreases to 0.2 at higher strain rates. On the other hand, the activation energy for deformation, Q, increases from 171.1 kJ/mol for superplastic deformation to 249 kJ/mol in Region III. The tendency for improved superplasticity (m) is seen upon cold working by 22% or more at the test temperatures 675 and 700 °C.