Nano-subgrain strengthening in ball-milled iron

The strength and deformation behavior of ball-milled, iron-base materials containing nano-scale subgrains have been evaluated. As reported by several authors, nano-subgrains form during the early stages of ball milling as a result of severe plastic deformation inherent in the ball milling process. The strength for these nano-scale subgrains are compared with the strength of larger-scale subgrains in iron and iron-base alloys produced by traditional mechanical working. The data covers over two orders of magnitude in subgrain size (from 30 nm to 6 μm) and shows a continuous pattern of behavior. For all materials studied, the strength varied as λ−1, where λ is the subgrain size. Strengthening from subgrains was found to breakdown at a much smaller subgrain size than strengthening from grains. In addition, the ball-milled materials showed significant strengthening contributions from nano-scale oxide particles. Shear bands are developed during compression testing of ball-milled materials containing ultra-fine subgrains. A model for shear band development in nano-scale subgrains during deformation has also been developed. The model predicts a strain state of uniaxial compression in the shear band with a strain of −1.24. Subgrains are shown to offer the opportunity for high strength and good work hardening with the absence of yield point behavior.