Contribution of soft copper particle on work hardening behavior in ferritic iron

Tensile tests were performed for two kinds of model alloys containing soft Cu particles or hard VC particles. Work hardening rate was obviously smaller in the Cu particle dispersion steel than in the VC particle dispersion steel. TEM observation for the cold-rolled specimens revealed the different dislocation arrangement; high density dislocations are introduced around the carbide particles in the VC steel, while dislocations are less accumulated in the Cu steel because dislocations can pass through Cu particles during plastic deformation.