Flow and Recovery Properties of Nearly Stoichiometric Polycrystalline Uranium Carbide and the Mechanism of Work Hardening of Crystalline Solids

The flow and recovery properties of nearly stoichiometric polycrystalline uranium carbide were studied in the temperature range 1500° to 1900°C at strain rates varying between 2×10⁻⁵/sec to 2×10⁻³/sec. The flow data seem to follow a relationship${\mathrm{\epsilon ̇\cong K\sigma }}^5\exp \text{(−37\hspace{0.17em}500/RT)}$ , where$\mathrm{\epsilon ̇}$ is the strain rate, K a proportionality constant, R the gas constant, T the absolute temperature, and σ the flow stress at strain =0.001. A mathematical evaluation from recovery data of the activation volume associated with dislocation motion is presented and its potential to yield basic information on the mechanism of work hardening is discussed.