Prediction of Mechanical Behaviour of Low Carbon Steel at High Strain Rate Using Thermal Activation Theory and Static Data

Thermal activation theory is well-known to be a useful theory to explain the mechanical behaviour of various metals in the wide range of temperature and strain-rate. In this study, a number of trials to obtain the lower yield stress or flow stress at high strain rates from quasi-static data were carried out using the data shown in the report titled “The final report of research group on high-speed deformation of steels for automotive use”. A relation between the thermal component of stress and the strain rate obtained from experiments for α Fe and the temperature-strain rate parameter were used with thermal activation theory. The predictions were successfully performed and they showed that the stress-strain behaviour at high strain rates can be evaluated from quasi-static data with good accuracy.