Quenching media and temperature dependence of structural and stress–strain characteristics of deformed Pb-2 at% Sb alloy during transformation

Abstract The hardening behavior of Pb–Sb alloys let them have important role in industrial applications especially as suitable materials for battery grids in the acidic accumulators manufacturing. Three different cooling techniques were used to prepare samples of Pb-2 at%Sb alloy with different grain size. Transmission electron microscope examination showed that slowly cooled samples have the largest grain diameter, while the samples quenched in liquid nitrogen (fast cooling rate) have the smallest grain size. The stress–strain characteristics were studied in the temperature range from 433 to 503 K. The yield stress σ y , the fracture stress σ f and the coefficient of logarithmic work hardening χ decreased with increasing the test temperature while the fracture strain e f increased. All these parameters showed two temperature stages around the transformation temperature 473 K. The X-ray diffraction technique was used to investigate the microstructure of the samples after the tensile test. The lattice parameter showed maximum value at 463 K for samples quenched in cold water.