Plastic deformation,

flow stress and

formability

Plastic
deformatio
n

Point and
line Defects

Slip and
Twinning
Systems

Flow
stress

Formability

When a sufficient
load is applied to a
metal or other
structural material, it
will cause the
material to change
shape. This change
in shape is called
deformation. When a
material is deformed,
two types of
deformation occur:
elastic and plastic.

Plastic deformation
When the stress is sufficient to
permanently deform the
metal, it is called plastic
deformation. As discussed in
the section on crystal defects,
plastic deformation involves
the breaking of a limited
number of atomic bonds by
the movement of dislocations.
Elastic deformation
The elastic phase is the initial
phase, in which the material
will change shape as load is
applied. However, when the
load is removed, the material
returns to its original shapes.
This type of deformation
involves stretching of the
bonds, but the atoms do not

POINT DEFECTS
A vacancy exists when an atom is missing from a
normal lattice position.
Higher than equilibrium concentrations of
vacancies can also be produced by extensive
plastic deformation (cold work).
An atom that is trapped inside the crystal at a
point intermediate between normal lattice
position. The interstitial defect occurs in pure
metals as a result of bombardment with highenergy nuclear particles, but is does not occur
frequently as a result of thermal activation.
The presence of an impurity atom at a lattice
position or at an interstitial position results in a
local disturbance of the periodicity of the lattice,
the same as for vacancies and interstitials.

Line Defects
Line defects or dislocations are important for plastic deformations. The following two types of dislocations are observed:

Edge
dislocations

Screw
dislocations

DIRECTION OF DISLOCATION MOTION

Edge dislocation line moves parallel to applied stress

Screw dislocation line moves perpendicular to applied stress

DISLOCATIONS
IN AN EDGE DISLOCATION, LOCALIZED LATTICE DISTORTION
EXISTS ALONG THE END OF AN EXTRA HALF-PLANE OF ATOMS.
A SCREW DISLOCATION RESULTS FROM SHEAR DISTORTION.
MANY DISLOCATIONS IN CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS HAVE BOTH
EDGE AND SCREWS COMPONENTS; THESE ARE MIXED
DISLOCATIONS.
PLASTIC DEFORMATION CREATES A LARGE NUMBER OF
DISLOCATIONS. HIGHER THE DISLOCATION DENSITY IN THE
MATERIAL, HIGHER IS THE RESISTANCE TO MOVEMENT OF
DISLOCATIONS AND HENCE HIGHER FORCES ARE REQUIRED
FOR PLASTIC DEFORMATION. THIS EXPLAINS THE INCREASE IN
STRENGTH DURING PLASTIC DEFORMATION, WHICH IS CALLED
STRAIN HARDENING OR WORK HARDENING.

DISLOCATION MOTION LEADS TO PLASTIC

DEFORMATION
An edge dislocation moves in response to a
shear stress applied in a direction perpendicular
to its line.
Extra half-plane at A is forced to the right; this
pushes the top halves of planes B, C, D in the
same direction.
By discrete steps, the extra 1/2-plane moves
from L to R by successive breaking of bonds and
shifting of upper 1/2-planes.
A step forms on the surface of the crystal as the
extra 1/2-plane exits.

DEFORMATION BY SLIP
The usual method of plastic
deformation in metals is by
the sliding of blocks of the
crystal over one another
along definite
crystallographic planes,
called slip planes.
Slip occurs when the shear
stress exceeds a critical
value. The atoms move an
integral number of atomic
distances along the slip
plane, and a step is
produced in the polished
surface.

SLIP

The process by which plastic

deformation is produced by dislocation
motion is called slip (movement of
dislocations).
The extra 1/2-plane moves along the
slip plane.

WHEN METALS ARE PLASTICALLY DEFORMED, SOME

FRACTION (ROUGHLY 5%) OF ENERGY IS RETAINED
INTERNALLY; THE REMAINDER IS DISSIPATED AS HEAT.
MAINLY, THIS ENERGY IS STORED AS STRAIN ENERGY
ASSOCIATED WITH DISLOCATIONS. LATTICE
DISTORTIONS EXIST AROUND THE DISLOCATION LINE.

SLIP SYSTEMS

DISLOCATIONS MOVE MORE EASILY ON SPECIFIC

PLANES AND IN SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS.
ORDINARILY, THERE IS A PREFERRED PLANE (SLIP
PLANE), AND SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS (SLIP DIRECTION)
ALONG WHICH DISLOCATIONS MOVE.
THE COMBINATION OF SLIP PLANE AND SLIP
DIRECTION IS CALLED THE SLIP SYSTEM.
THE SLIP SYSTEM DEPENDS ON THE CRYSTAL
STRUCTURE OF THE METAL.
THE SLIP PLANE IS THE PLANE THAT HAS THE MOST
DENSE ATOMIC PACKING (THE GREATEST PLANAR
DENSITY).
THE SLIP DIRECTION IS MOST CLOSELY PACKED WITH
ATOMS (HIGHEST LINEAR DENSITY).

DEFORMATION BY TWINNING

The second important mechanism by which metals deform is the

process known as twinning. Twinning results when a portion of th
crystal takes up an orientation that is related to the orientation o
the
rest of the untwinned lattice in a definite, symmetrical way. The
twinned portion of the crystal is a mirror image of the parent

DEFORMATION BY TWINNING
Twins can form in a time as short as a few microseconds,
while for slip there is a delay time of several milliseconds before
a slip band is formed. Under certain conditions, twins can be heard
to
form with a click or loud report (tin cry) . If twinning occurs during
a
tensile test, it produces serrations in the the stress-strain curve.
The important
role of twinning in plastic deformation comes not from the strain
produced
by the twinning process but from the fact that orientation changes
resulting from twinning may place new slip systems in a favorable
orientation
with respect to the stress axis so that additional slip can take

STRESS AND DISLOCATION MOTION

Edge and screw dislocations move in response to
shear stresses applied along a slip plane in a slip
direction.
Even though an applied stress may be tensile,
shear components exist in directions other than the
ones parallel or perpendicular to the stress
direction.
These are called resolved shear stresses ().

CRITICAL RESOLVED SHEAR STRESS

In response to an applied tensile or compressive stress, slip in a

single crystal begins when the resolved shear stress reaches some
critical value, ().
It represents the minimum shear stress required to initiate slip
and is a property of the material that determines when yielding
occurs.

DEFORMATION IN A SINGLE CRYSTAL

For a single crystal in tension,
slip will occur along a number
of equivalent & most favorably
oriented planes and directions at
various positions along the
specimen.
Each step results from the
movement of a large number of
dislocations along the same slip
plane.

DISLOCATION MOTION IN
POLYCRYSTALS

On the surface of a polished single

crystal, these steps appear as lines
(slip lines).
Slip planes & directions change
from one crystal to another.
() will vary from one crystal to
another.
The crystal with the largest ()
yields first.

FLOW STRES
In metal forming processes, the forming loads and material
stresses depend on the part geometry, fiction, and flow stress of
the metal being formed. When the applied stress, in uniaxial
tension, without necking, reaches the yield stress (flow stress), the
material in considered to Begin deforming plastically. Flow stress
is simply the yield stress of a material undergoing unixial
deformation, as a function of strain, strain rate, temperature, and

microstructure:
- flow stress
- temperature- efective strain
- effective strain rate
S- microstructure

The flow stress of most metals, deformed at room

temperature, increases with increasing strain.
For most metals at room temperature, strength
increases when deformed due to strain hardening.
Flow stress = instantaneous value of stress required
to continue deforming the material

Where = flow stress, that is, the yield strength as a

function of strain

AVERAGE FLOW STRESS

Determined by integrating the flow curve equation between zero
and the final strain value defining the range of interest

Where:
average flow stress;
= maximumstrain during deformation process

FORMABILITY
Formability describes the limit to which the sheet
materials can undergo deformation before failure during
forming. Several test have been develop specifically to
evaluate the abilities of a sheet material to undergo
deformation by:
stretching
bending
bending under stretching
stretching at the edge
deep drawing
This information significantly helps process and tool
design engineers predict failure during analysis of sheet
metal forming processes for tool design.

Formability Tests for Sheet Metals

Forming-limit Diagrams
Forming-limit diagrams is to determine the formability of sheet metals

Formability Tests for Sheet Metals

Forming-limit Diagrams
To develop a forming-limit diagram, the major and minor
engineering strains are obtained
Major axis of the ellipse represents the major direction and
magnitude of stretching
Major strain is the engineering strain and is always positive
Minor strain can be positive or negative
Curves represent the boundaries between failure and safe
zones

Cup drawing test

Circular blanks of
various diameters
are used
Tooling is
standardised
Limiting drawing
ratio (LDR) is the
ratio of the
diameter of the
largest blank that
can be successfully
drawn to the
diameter

Cup drawing test Examples

BALL PUNCH TEST

Well known
as Olsen or
Erichsen test
The cup
height at
fracture is
used as the
measure of
Strechability.

Ball punch test

Examples

REFERENCES:
Abbaschian, Reed-Hill. Physical
Metallurgy Principles. 4th edition. 2009
Beer & Johnston (2006). Mechanics of
Materials (5th edition). McGraw Hill.
Robert S Williams Metallurgy and
metallurgical engineering series.
McGraw-Hill Book Co; 5th edition (1948).