Influence of dislocation separation on dynamic strain aging in a Fe-Mn-C austenitic steel

The influences of deformation temperature and strain rate on the serrated flow behavior of a Fe-17Mn-0.3C alloy with a low stacking fault energy were investigated by the tensile tests in a temperature range of 273 to 523 K. Three regions were found when the deformation temperature was plotted against the critical strains for the onset of serrations. The critical strain decreased in the region of 273 to 323 K, increased in that of 323 to 423 K, and decreased again in that of 423 to 523K with increasing temperature. The first two regions are well known. However, the third region corresponding to that of high temperature has not been reported, and this region could be interpreted by separately considering the interactions of solute atoms with leading and trailing partials. Since the velocity of the leading partials is assumed to be significantly higher than that of the trailing partials, the critical strains in the first and third regions were concluded to result from trapping the trailing partials and the leading partials, respectively.