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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Determining the Mechanical Strength of Ultra-Fine-Grained Metals
Published on: November 22, 2021
Statistical thermodynamics of strain hardening in polycrystalline solids
1Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-9530, USA.
Abstract:
This paper starts with a systematic rederivation of the statistical thermodynamic equations of motion for dislocation-mediated plasticity proposed in 2010 by Langer, Bouchbinder, and Lookman [Acta Mat. 58, 3718 (2010)ACMAFD1359-645410.1016/j.actamat.2010.03.009]. It then uses that theory to explain the anomalous rate-hardening behavior reported in 1988 by Follansbee and Kocks and to explore the relation between hardening rate and grain size reported in 1995 by Meyers et al. A central theme is the need for physics-based, nonequilibrium analyses in developing predictive theories of the strength of polycrystalline materials.
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