Internal Friction and Magnetic After-Effect Study of Dislocation Dynamics in Thermally Aged Fe-1%Cu-C Alloys

The effect of Cu-precipitation on the dislocation dynamics is studied by internal friction and magnetic after-effect measurements of thermally aged Fe1%CuC. We found that the copper precipitation in these alloys is accompanied by carbon redistribution. The results of both experiments showed that the hardening regime is governed by an increase of the dislocation density due to the growth of copper precipitates, while in the softening regime carbon redistribution plays a major role.