Large-strain plastic deformation at low homologous temperature implies, amo
ng other things, severe work hardening, strong crystallographic texturing,
microstructural refining, and some degree of macroscopic redundant strain.
In most cases, the development of texture does not seem to particularly inc
rease grain interactions above their initial level, which is at the origin
of the Ball-Fetch effect. Continued strain then leads asymptotically toward
s an absolute maximum of the tensile flow stress below G/50, where G repres
ents the elastic shear modulus.
However, it is well known that some simple deformation textures promote an
extraordinary enhancement of the plastic grain interactions that need to be
accommodated by monotonically increasing mesoscopic (grain-size range) str
ain gradients. Such behaviour is accompanied by a concomitant high work-har
dening rate and by a remarkable extension of the strengthening limit. The [
110] body-centred-cubic or [0001] hexagonal close-packed wire drawing textu
res constitute the paradigmatic case, for which the flow stress limit reach
es up to G/20. A quantitative explanation of the phenomenon is given here w
ith the help of a geometrical model of microstructural development.