The development of intergranular strains in a high-strength steel

In situ neutron diffraction measurements have been made on a high-strength low-alloy steel to study the generation of intergranular strains under unia xial load. Intergranular strains were found to be actively developed at sma ll plastic deformation (< 4.5 per cent) and stay unchanged in subsequent lo adings. Large tensile strains of an average 7 x 10(-4) were observed for th e (002) reflections transverse to the stress axis whereas intergranular eff ects are comparatively insignificant for other reflections. Experimental re sults were found to be in excellent agreement with the predictions based on the elastoplastic self-consistent model.