LAUSR

Abstract The temperature dependence of the yield stress, effective stress and activation volume on the Cu content in steel was assessed using polycrystalline ultra-low carbon steels with 0.5, 1 and 2 mass% Cu added. A small hump was seen in the effective stress–temperature curve for ultra-low carbon steel, which has also been reported for high-purity single-crystal iron. The effective stress was found to decrease with increasing the Cu content. The activation volume was found to be linearly related to the temperature at low temperatures for all types of specimens considered. The activation volume was found to increase abruptly at a certain temperature, which increased with increasing the Cu content. The change in the relationship of the activation volume to temperature is discussed in this paper with respect to the thermally activated process of dislocation glide from the Peierls mechanism to the interaction between dislocations and solute Cu atoms.