In previous work, stress-strain curves for the atomic lattice of certain metals have been obtained from X-ray diffraction measurements of the lattice dimensions of test specimens under tension or compression, and it has been shown that when the external yield stress is exceeded, there is a systematic departure from Hooke’s Law. It is pointed out in the present paper that this departure indicates that the external applied stress above the yield is no longer balanced primarily by simple displacement of the atoms but also by a new type of secondary internal stress brought about by the process of plastic flow; and that this secondary stress, being of a permanent nature, can be measured by the residual lattice strains exhibited by the lattice after removal of the external stress. These residual strains are measured in various directions to the stress direction for mild steel subjected to tension, and it is shown that the lattice after tension exhibits a longitudinal compression and a transverse expansion in the ratio of 2:1, which means that the density of the material is thereby kept constant. Comparisons of X-ray and mechanical measurements further show that the hysteresis loop exhibited by the external stress-strain curve of mild steel after overstrain can disappear and the linear elastic relation be recovered without any corresponding change in the internal stress, which is therefore a more fundamental physical property. It is also shown that when the elastic range is extended by overstrain in tension, there is no symmetrical increase in the elastic range in subsequent compression, thus confirming the existence and direction of the secondary internal stress. Finally, the lattice stress-strain curves are also obtained for a 0.4 % C steel (partially pearlitic) and a 0.8 % C steel (pearlitic), and by comparison with the results on pure iron and 0.1 % C steel (annealed) it is shown that the maximum residual internal strain developed by the lattice increases markedly with the fineness to which the crystallites can be broken down by the plastic deformation.
Internal stress created by plastic flow in mild steel, and stress-strain curves for the atomic lattice of higher carbon steels