Theoretical model of the temperature-dependent ultimate tensile strength from the viewpoint of dislocation kinetics approach for FCC metals

Abstract

In this work, based on the force-heat equivalence energy density principle and the theory of dislocation kinetics, a dislocation-based theoretical model of temperature-dependent ultimate tensile strength without fitting parameters is developed. The novelty of this model is that the theoretical characterization of the temperature-dependent dislocation annihilation energy barrier is implemented, and the new temperature-dependent expressions of the dislocation annihilation term and the dislocation storage term in the dislocation kinetics approach are derived. The model is well validated by comparing against available experimental results of pure face-centered cubic metals in a wide temperature range with the lowest temperature close to absolute temperature 0 K and the highest temperature close to melting point. Furthermore, the analysis results of the model show that increasing the dislocation storage coefficient and reducing the dislocation annihilation coefficient are effective measures to improve the ultimate tensile strength of metal materials, particularly at lower temperatures. The theoretical model provides a clear and profound physical basis for understanding the evolution of ultimate tensile strength at different temperatures.