On the flow stress of metals at low temperatures

Abstract

Abstract The customary representation of the flow stress τ(T) by two additive components τG and τT, of which only the latter is significantly temperature dependent, is shown to lead to unlikely implications concerning the mechanism of plastic deformation. A new interpretation of the temperature dependence of τ(T) is proposed, in which τ(T)=τ(0)-τT. It accords with the view that the deformation rate is controlled by dislocation intersections.