Mechanisms of

Strengthening in
Metals

Objectives
Relate

dislocation motion to
strengthening
Know the different examples of
strengthening
mechanisms
applicable to single phased
metals

Strengthening
enhancement of the mechanical strength
Fundamental concept of plastic deformation

the ability of a metal to plastically

deform depends on the ability of
dislocations to move
Basic Principle in Strengthening

Restricting or hindering dislocation

motion renders a material harder and
stronger.

Strengthening Mechanisms
for Single Phased Metals
Strengthening by Grain Size
Reduction
Solid Solution Strengthening
Strain Hardening

Note: Strengthening reduces ductility

Strengthening Mechanisms
for (Single-Phased) Metals:
Strengthening by Grain Size Reduction

grain boundaries act as barriers to

dislocation motion:

a dislocation passing from one grain to another will

have to change its direction because of the
difference in orientations
atomic disorder within a grain boundary region will
result in a discontinuity of slip planes from one
grain to another

Grain Boundary as Barrier

Strengthening by Grain Size

Reduction

Hall-Petch Equation

shows yield strength dependence on average grain

diameter, d

y o k yd

and ky are constants for a particular material

decreasing the average size or diameter of grains in

polycrystalline metals leads to strengthening.

Strengthening by Grain Size

Reduction

Strengthening Mechanisms
for (Single-Phased) Metals:
Solid-Solution Strengthening

the hardening and strengthening of metals

that result from alloying in which a solid
solution is formed
Alloys are usually stronger than metals

atoms going into solid solutions impose lattice

strains on the surrounding host atoms:

small impurity atom exerts tensile lattice strains

large impurity atom exerts compressive lattice strains

Solid Solution Strengthening

lattice strain field interaction between dislocations

and impurity atoms are possible

small impurity atom diffuses and segregates to the compressive

region of dislocations
large impurity atom diffuses and segregates to the tensile region of
dislocations

interaction of strains fields reduces the overall

strain energy of the lattice

the resistance to slip is greater because the overall lattice strain

must increase if a dislocation is to be torn away from the impurity
atoms.
impurity atoms are also termed as pinning points for the dislocations.

Solid Solution Strengthening

Left: (a) Tensile strains imposed on
host atoms by a smaller
substitutional impurity atom. (b)
Possible locations of smaller
impurity atoms relative to an edge
dislocation.
Right: (a) Compressive strains
imposed on host atoms by a larger
substitutional impurity atom. (b)
Possible locations of larger
impurity atoms relative to an edge
dislocation.

Solid Solution Strengthening

Solid Solution
Strengthening

Strengthening Mechanisms
for (Single-Phased) Metals:
Strain Hardening

phenomenon whereby a ductile material becomes harder

and stronger as it is plastically deformed
sometimes called cold working or work hardening
Degree of Plastic Deformation
Ao Ad
Ao

%CW

100

the greater the degree of plastic deformation, the

greater the strengthening effect

Strain Hardening

Strain Hardening

Dislocation density increases with deformation.

As dislocation density increases, the average
separation distance between dislocations
decreases.

This results to more strain field interactions

between dislocations.

On the average, the interactions are repulsive.

Thus, dislocation motion is effectively restricted,
resulting to an increased force necessary to
deform the metal.

Strain Hardening
Dislocations
may also become
entangled with
one another
resulting to
decreased
dislocation
mobility.

Strain Hardening

Strain Hardening Exponent, n

measure of the ability of a material to strain harden:

n
K T

T true stress

K constant (dependent on the type of alloy)

values for n are less than unity
the higher the value of n, the greater is the strain
hardening for a given amount of plastic strain