Influence of Boundary Migration Induced Softening on the Steady State of Discontinuous Dynamic Recrystallization

During discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX), new dislocation-free grains progressively replace the initially strain-hardened grains. Furthermore, the grain boundary migration associated with dislocation elimination partially opposes strain hardening, thus adding up to dynamic recovery. This effect, referred to as boundary migration induced softening (BMIS) is generally not accounted for by DDRX models, in particular by "mean-field" approaches. In this paper, BMIS is first defined and then analyzed in detail. The basic equations of a grain scale DDRX model, involving the classical Yoshie-Laasraoui-Jonas equation for strain hardening and dynamic recovery and including BMIS are described. A steady state condition equation is then used to derive the average dislocation density and the average grain size. It is then possible to assess the respective influences of BMIS and dynamic recovery on the strain rate sensitivity, the apparent activation energy, and the relationship between flow stress and average grain size ("Derby exponent") of the material during steady state DDRX. Finally, the possible influence of BMIS on the estimation of grain boundary mobility and nucleation rate from experimental data is addressed.