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Acoustic emission and the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect

Acoustic emissions were monitored during deadweight extensions of aluminum and brass specimens which exhibit discontinuous yielding. Results are presented for tests at both 20°C and 325°C

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Abstract

Many metals and alloys which exhibit repeated discontinuous yielding (Portevin-Le Chatelier effect) also emit rather interesting acoustic energy during work hardening. Both phenomena are dramatic in dead-weight extensions of annealed specimens of brass or aluminum. The acoustic emission from such specimens was monitored and correlated with the features of the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect. It is shown that, when the discontinuous yielding subsides in aluminum, so does the acoustic emission; in fact, smooth continuous flow can occur in these materials with no detectable acoustic emission. Data are presented which are consistent with the hypothesis that, at room temperature, elastic energy released during a yield increment is proportional to the elastic energy stored since the last yield increment. This is not observed at elevated temperatures.

It is concluded that additional studies of the acoustic-emission phenomena associated with plastic deformation can aid in achieving a better knowledge of the strain-hardening process for crystalline solids.

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  1. Department of Mechanics and Materials Science, The Johns Hopkins University, 21218, Baltimore, MD

    William F. Hartman (Assistant Professor)

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  1. William F. Hartman
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Hartman, W.F. Acoustic emission and the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect. Experimental Mechanics 14, 19–23 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02324855

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